System and method for determining lift heights of a stockpile

ABSTRACT

The method may comprise receiving historical data (e.g., mineralogy data, irrigation data, raffinate data, heat data, lift height data, geographic data on ore placement and/or blower data); training a predictive model using the historical data to create a trained predictive model; adding future assumption data to the trained predictive model; running the forecast engine for a plurality of parameters to obtain forecast data for a mining production target; comparing the forecast data for the mining production target to the actual data for the mining production target; determining deviations between the forecast data and the actual data, based on the comparing; and changing each of the plurality of parameters from the forecast data to the actual data to determine a contribution to the deviations for each of the plurality of parameters.

FIELD

The disclosure relates to using mine operation data and leach analyticsfor training a predictive model, forecasting future operations andcomparing to actual data, to adjust leaching operations and to optimizemetals production.

BACKGROUND

Traditionally, ores have been routed to a particular processing systembased on the mineralogy of the ore. For example, copper oxide andcarbonate ores (e.g., cuprite, chrysocolla, malachite, and azurite) maybe very amenable to leaching. Exposure to dilute sulfuric acid carriessufficient chemical energy to put the copper into solution, so that thecopper can be purified and recovered by the downstream processingmethods of solvent extraction and electrowinning. Leach recoveries fromoxide and carbonate minerals can approach 100% of the contained copper,provided sufficient acid is available for leach reactions.

Acid cost should also be considered because it may not be economicallypossible to provide all the acid that the ore requires to release all ofthe contained copper. Gangue minerals (which are present in heap leachoperations) consume acid but yield no value. The type and amount ofgangue minerals determine the amount of acid that will be consumed, somineralogical analysis and laboratory testing is used to determinewhether an ore is economic to leach. If the cost of the acid for theprocess is greater than the value of copper obtained, the ore is noteconomic to process.

Advancements in leach technology have also made it possible to recovercopper from secondary copper sulfides (e.g., chalcocite and covellite)via leaching. To break the copper-sulfur bonds in these minerals,oxidation is used. Sulfuric acid carries some oxidizing potential, butmuch of the driving force for leaching sulfides comes from the oxidationpotential of ferric iron in solution. The presence of iron ions insolution is usually due to the leaching of iron bearing minerals presentin the heap leach. When ferric iron oxidizes copper sulfide minerals,the ferric iron is converted to ferrous iron. The ferrous iron isconverted back to ferric iron to further oxidize copper sulfideminerals. For this re-oxidation to occur, a source of oxygen oroxidation is used. The top and sides of a heap leach stockpile are openand atmospheric oxygen is readily available (so the heap surface area isa variable). However, within a heap leach (e.g., within a multi-liftheap leach structure), the interior may be oxygen starved and copperrecovery may be adversely impacted. To help overcome this problem,various means of introducing oxygen into the interior of the heap leachstructure may be used. Air or oxygen may either be introduced byphysically piping or blowing it into the ore structure, by influencingthe dissolved oxygen or oxygen potential of the leach solution, or bydirect oxidation (which may be chemical oxidation). In heap bioleaching,oxidizing microorganisms (which may be naturally occurring) convertferrous iron to ferric iron and thus aid the leaching operation.

In another class of minerals (e.g., the primary sulfides), copper ismore tightly bound to iron and sulfur within the mineral lattice. Anexample of these minerals is chalcopyrite. Although much work iscurrently being performed to leach chalcopyrite bearing minerals,generally leach recovery from these minerals is low (e.g., around 15% ofthe contained copper). This usually results in these minerals being sentto froth flotation and smelting. However, some chalcopyrite may beplaced on leach stockpiles, either because the chalcopyrite is mixedwith other (more leachable) minerals or because the chalcopyrite iscontained in ore whose copper grade was too low (below millcutoff-grade) to be processed economically via the froth flotation andsmelting route. The leach recovery from chalcopyrite minerals may beimproved by using leach additives (of various types) to leach solutionsor by adding the solutions directly to the ore.

Temperature is also a factor for leaching both secondary sulfides andprimary sulfides. Temperature may increase recovery on the order of, forexample, 0.5% for every 1 degree Celsius, provided sufficient oxygen ispresent for the oxidation reactions to proceed; however, such anincrease in recovery may be impacted by several considerations, rangesand practical limits. While temperature may be increased by heating ofair or leach solutions, the temperature may also increase due to thebalance of exothermic chemical reactions and/or endothermic chemicalreactions occurring within the leach stockpile (e.g., the oxidation ofpyrite). Therefore, for any sulfide leach operation, the amount ofpyrite present may be a variable.

Mineral mixtures and clays may contain copper in such a way that it isnot economically recoverable by leaching. This copper is bound withincomplex mineral lattices and does not respond to acid or aeration. Tocalculate the maximum recoverable copper from a leach stockpile, it ishelpful to know the amounts of these refractory copper minerals.

Assays that are available for specific volumes of ore are calledblasthole assays because the assays are run on the ore which resultsfrom drilling blast holes into the ore. Available assays include TCu(the total percentage of copper in the sample), QLT (Quick Leach Test)which is a test that is an indicator of the presence of leachableminerals (e.g., sulfide) in the ore, and AsCu (Acid soluble copper)which is the amount of copper that is leachable by the application ofacid alone. Another assay that is available is Ore Acid Consumption,which measures the amount of acid that a ton of ore will consume. If theacid consumption is too high, the cost of the acid may exceed the copperthat could be recovered, such that the material may be uneconomic.

When it has been determined that the existing mineralogy is amenable toheap leaching, and other economic conditions are favorable, ore isplaced on stockpiles in preparation for leaching. Optimization of oreplacement may maximize the profit from a leach operation. Ores that havea high enough copper grade, favorable leach recovery and favorable daysunder leach (e.g., kinetics) may be crushed and agglomerated prior toconveyor stacking on a leach pad. In these circumstances, the amount ofcopper that is projected to be recovered via leaching from the ore ismore than sufficient to cover the costs of haulage and crushing to a P80size of less than about 1″ (and often with a P80 of less than ¾ ″ or ½″). The P80 size of an ore size distribution is a measure of particlesize distribution having the screen size through which 80% of theparticles may pass. The crushed ore may be conveyed into a large,rotating agglomeration drum, where the ore is mixed and wetted with atleast one of (or a mixture of) water, reclaimed water, brine, raffinate,ILS (Intermediate Leach Solution), PLS (pregnant leach solution),sulfuric acid, another metal bearing product or products, an auxiliaryoxidant, a halide salt, a binder, one or more additives to enhancegalvanic leaching, or other leach additives. One purpose ofagglomeration is to attach fine particles to coarser particles so thatthe particles do not migrate through the stockpile and ultimately causethe permeability of the structure to be decreased. Another purpose ofagglomeration is to expose the ore to acid and lixiviants so that theleaching process is started. Yet another purpose of agglomeration is tocreate ore aggregates with optimum leaching characteristics.

After being agglomerated, the ore is fed onto mobile stacking conveyorsand is deposited in a layer whose thickness (lift height) may bedetermined by the average leach characteristics of the ore being stacked(usually between 15-30 feet high). If the ore being stacked is a sulfideore or has a sulfide component that would benefit from oxidation,air-lines may be installed in the ore (e.g. laid down under the ore thatis to be stacked). These air-lines may be attached to a header which mayprotrude through the exposed side of the leach pad structure. Theseheaders may be attached to large blowers that blow ambient air into theleach stockpile. The volume of air blown into the stockpile and thegeometry of air-lines both influence the efficiency with which air canbe introduced to the leach process. As the ore is stacked, an earthenstructure is formed by the ore such that the top surface of the pad isrelatively flat, while the sides (side slopes) of the pad are at theangle of repose of the damp ore.

After an area of the pad has been stacked with ore, an arrangement ofleach lines (e.g., drip lines) may be placed on the top surface of theore. Leach lines may also be placed on the side slopes of the leach padstructure so that the volume of ore around the sides of the pad isincluded in the leach operation. Leach solution (which may be a mixtureof raffinate, ILS, PLS, water, sulfuric acid, an auxiliary oxidant, anda leach enhancing additive) is pumped through the leach lines and isdripped or sprayed onto the ore. The choice of using drip emitters orsprayers (e.g., wobblers) to introduce leach solution to the ore dependson such factors as the mineralogy of the ore. Sulfide ores have improvedrecovery when leach solution application rates are low, so drip emittersmay be preferred. Sprayers may be used on oxide minerals, whose copperwill leach by simply exposing the ore to acid. Plant water balanceissues also influence the choice. If, due to weather events, too muchwater has entered the leach system, sprayers can be used to aid inevaporation.

An operational issue that may occur when drip emitters are used isplugging. Wobblers are not subject to plugging, so the wobblers may beused if leach solutions contain suspended solids that are not economicalto remove. Because leach pads are very large, it is difficult to knowwhether leach lines are plugged. Plugged leach lines may be anoperational issue because the ore under and adjacent to those leachlines will not be exposed to leach solutions and thus will not producecopper.

After the ore has been leached for a given number of days (days underleach or the leach cycle), the leach solution flow to the leach pad maybe shut off and the pad may be allowed to partially dry out. The copperrecovered after this first leach cycle is called first cycle recoveryand represents most (about 80%) of the copper that may be recovered fromthat ore. At this point, the partially leached ore is either removedfrom the pad or prepared to be stacked over. In some leachingoperations, leached ore is removed from the leach pad and restacked intoa “ripios” stockpile in another location. This type of operation iscalled an “on/off pad” because the ore is put on the pad, leached, andthen taken off. Unless the ripios are leached to recover residualcopper, ores placed on an on/off pad will only achieve first-cyclerecovery. In many leach operations, after ore has completed first cycleleaching, the older ore is left in place and fresh ore is stacked on topof the older ore. Air-lines may also be installed before the new ore islaid down. In these multiple lift heap leach operations, ore hasmultiple chances to leach, provided the driving forces for leaching arepresent in the lower lifts. These driving forces include sufficient acidso that free acid is present in the lower lifts, oxidizing potentialexists (usually driven by the presence of ferric iron in solution), andsufficient permeability exists (so that leach solutions can contactmineral particles).

When ores do not contain enough recoverable copper to make crushing andagglomeration economic, the ore may be dumped by haul trucks onto leachdumps. The particle size distribution of this ROM (Run of Mine) ore ismuch larger than crushed ore with P80 sizes between 6 and 12 inches.Copper recoveries are lower for run of mine ores than crushed-leach oresbecause the percentage of the ore particles that are available forcontact by leach solutions is lower.

The calculations which are used to determine the profitability of mininga particular section of ore depend not only on the properties of thatore (e.g., mineralogy, grade, leachability), but also on changingexternal factors of which leach operators and/or mine operators may havelittle control. Improved knowledge of expected leach recovery for eachblock of ore may allow mine operators to further optimize spending tomaximize profitability. For example, the cost of blasting the ore inpreparation for haulage is significant. This operation uses large drillswhich are used to create holes in the ore section at specific intervals.Each drill hole is loaded with explosive charges which are detonated tofragment the ore. Ore fragmentation is expensive, but it is one of themost efficient ways of size reduction in mining, as rocks generally havehigh compressive strength, but are more easily fractured by the tensionand shear forces that are present in blasting. Blast fragmentation is aneffective way of creating a finer particle size distribution, but thefragmentation comes at the cost of increased drilling and higher usageof explosive agents. This reduced particle size distribution can benefitleach recovery because it exposes a higher percentage of mineralparticles, but it also produces more fine particles that could causepermeability problems during leaching. The benefits of blastfragmentation are more obvious for ROM ores which do not undergo furthersize reduction, but the benefits also translate to crush-for-leach oresbecause crushing energy is reduced.

Another variable cost is the diesel fuel used by large mining haultrucks, shovels and other equipment. The price of this commodity causesswings in the costs of mining, and consequently, in the revenue that canbe generated from each designated volume of ore. After the ore has beenblasted to fragment the ore, the ore is loaded by large mining shovelsinto diesel fueled haul trucks. The distance between loading and theultimate destination of a truck load of ore is the haulage distance. Thecosts of ore haulage are proportional to distance, but also depend onfactors such as mine topography and the percentage of the haul that isuphill. Ore haulage costs are a significant mining cost and also dependon the cost of tires, tire life, and truck maintenance costs.

Mining companies typically prefer to recover copper from ores via heapleach and hydrometallurgical methods because such methods often involvelower operating cost compared to processing the ores using, for example,froth flotation and smelting. Additionally, hydrometallurgical processesrequire less energy and water than traditional mineral processingoperations. Accordingly, a strong need exists to develop a system thatdetermines how to route ore to the most advantageous process byconsidering input data related to, for example, mineralogy data,irrigation data, raffinate data, heat data, lift height data, blowerdata, geographic data on ore placement, ore grade, recovery, processingcost and/or process efficiency. Furthermore, optimizing heap leach notonly influences ore delivery logic, but also may optimize production andminimize operating inefficiencies and costs for mining (e.g., leaching)operations. The use of algorithms, automation and logic to drivedecreases in operating costs and improved recovery of copper andby-product elements may lead to significant increases in ore reserves(i.e., more mineralized material becomes economic ore). Increases in orereserves may lead to increased mine life and more accurate long-termmine operation decision making. The inputs and variables that may beused for ore routing and process optimization calculations are oftenchanging, complex and interdependent. The potential predictive variablesfor leach production may include, for example, raffinate flow rate,raffinate chemistry, ambient temperature, ore temperature, days underleach, side slope irrigation, wobbler v drip, TCu percentage (the totalpercentage of copper in the sample), QLT (Quick Leach Test) percentagewhich is a test that is an indicator of the presence of leachableminerals (e.g., sulfide) in the ore, P80 size, ore permeability, orehardness, ore moly percentage and/or byproduct value percentage. P80 isoften used to describe a particle size distribution, wherein the screenopening size is such that more than 80% of the particles would passthrough. These variables may be highly correlated and not all of thesevariables may have predictive power in an individual predictive model.Further, these data come from a variety of sources and exist in avariety of electronic data formats.

A need exists to combine and utilize the input data in science-basedsubprograms (that feed outcomes to overarching algorithms) so that thetrue chemical and physical driving forces that impact leach recovery canbe understood in a way that allows adjustments to interacting sets ofparameters to drive beneficial change in mining (e.g., leaching)operations. Additionally, a need exists for checking output data againstreality so that models can be adjusted for increasing accuracy and/orconsistency. With such a system in place, ore routing calculations maychange in real-time to adjust for changes in input variables.Additionally, heap leach efficiency (which impacts the ore routingmodel) may be optimized by influencing the chemical and physical forcesthat drive copper extraction. The powerful functionality that leachanalytics provides goes beyond collecting data from various sources intoone overarching database. Leach analytics provides a means forphysically understanding how controllable variables impact leachrecovery. Going further, leach analytics provides a means forquantifying complex variable interactions and their collective impact onleach recovery. Therefore, this complete analysis provides the basis ofa control strategy such that variables may be changed to optimize anoutcome. These changes may be tested manually and then incorporated intointeracting automated control systems.

SUMMARY

In various embodiments, and as set forth in FIG. 5 , the system mayinclude a method comprising receiving, by a processor, historical data,wherein the historical data comprises at least one of mineralogy data,irrigation data, raffinate data, heat data, lift height data, geographicdata on ore placement or blower data (step 505); training, by theprocessor, a predictive model using the historical data to create atrained predictive model (step 510); adding, by the processor, futureassumption data to the trained predictive model (step 515); running, bythe processor, the forecast engine for a plurality of parameters toobtain forecast data for a mining production target (step 520);comparing, by the processor, the forecast data for the mining productiontarget to the actual data for the mining production target (step 525);determining, by the processor, deviations between the forecast data andthe actual data, based on the comparing (step 530); and changing, by theprocessor, each of the plurality of parameters from the forecast data tothe actual data to determine a contribution to the deviations for eachof the plurality of parameters (step 535).

The method may also include overriding the receiving by inputtingdifferent historical data. The method may further include cleaning thehistorical data and/or removing the historical data that is bad data.The method may also include validating the predictive model using testdata with a time lag. The method may also include running a simulationengine to replace one or more of the historical data with alternatedata. The method may additionally include re-training the predictivemodel based on the deviations.

The historical data may be for a stockpile during a time period. Thepredictive model may be a Generalized Additive Model. The mineralogydata may include at least one of TCu percentage, XCu percentage (alsoknown as AsCu or acid soluble copper), QLT percentage, ore size or tons.The irrigation data may include at least one of raffinate applicationrate, area under irrigation or days under leach (DUL). The raffinatedata may include at least one of raffinate flow rate, raffinate Cu,raffinate Fe, raffinate Fe2/Fe3, the types and quantities of leachmodifying additives or catalysts, raffinate acid or cure acid. Theirrigation data may include raffinate application rate comprising atleast one of slide slope irrigation, wobbler v drip, ore permeability,ore hardness or ambient temperature.

The blower data may include ambient temperature, a temperature changewhen a blower is activated and a status of the blower as beingactivated. The temperature change may be derived from the exittemperature out of the blower detected by a sensor on the blower. Thestatus of the blower as being activated may be determined from atemperature difference between the ambient temperature and an exittemperature from the blower is above a threshold. The heat data mayestimate in-pile temperature and the heat data may include at least oneof heat soft sensor data or measured temperature data (e.g., using athermistor).

The historical data may further comprise at least one of PLS (pregnantleach solution) data, stockpile data or section mapping data. Thestockpile and section mapping data may comprise at least one of MineMaterial Tracking (MMT) tool data, Section Polygons (e.g., ArcGIS),elevations data, or Rules-based Matching data. The rules-based matchingdata may comprise at least one of dispatch data or haul truck sensordata (e.g., from any of the sensors in FIG. 7 ) for loading and dumping.The MMT tool data may comprise at least one of load point data, shovelhigh precision GPS data, terrain data, haul truck sensor data, minesystem data, block model data and dispatch data. The block model datamay comprise transformed 3D assay data from 3D interpolation of an assayfrom a drill hole. The historical data may further comprise ore mapdata.

The ore map may leverage predictions from a column test predictivemodel, which may be trained on large scale laboratory tests. The ore mapdata may include truck dump data. Column tests may include large scalelaboratory tests performed on a given quantity of ore which may beloaded into a vertical column and leached to simulate or optimize fieldconditions. A machine learning model (e.g., multi-layer perceptron(MLP)) may receive data from the column test to create the column testpredictive model. The machine learning model may also receive and usebio data (e.g., additives, microbes, or catalysts). The column test mayprovide output data including at least one of days under leach of amineral, the percentage of each mineral reacted or amount of acidconsumed. The column test input data may include at least one ofraffinate Fe, raffinate acid, leach additive or catalyst, raffinate Cu,days under leach, XCu, QLT, application rate or cure acid. Theirrigation data may comprise an area on calculation that determines ashare of an area of the stockpile that is being irrigated. The ore mapmay comprise section mapping data that includes creating a polygon map.The polygon map may include correcting for overlapping polygons. Thepolygon map may include creating shapes of an overlap portion ofpolygons with known ore characteristics. The future assumption data mayinclude mine plan data. The mining production may include miningproduction from side slope leaching. The geographic data on oreplacement may include the geographic location where the ore is placed inthe stockpile.

In various embodiments, the system may further include a heat softsensor method for determining a temperature profile of a stockpilecomprising receiving, by a processor, adjustments to process parameters;determining, by the processor, a heat profile of a stockpile, based onthe adjustments; determining, by the processor, the heat profile of thestockpile at different depths of the stockpile, based on theadjustments; and determining, by the processor, changes to the heatprofile of the stockpile during a timeframe.

The determining of the heat profile of the stockpile may compriseestimating the heat transfer at a surface of the stockpile; estimatingthe heat transfer within the stockpile; and estimating the heatgeneration within an interior of the stockpile. The estimation of theheat transfer at the surface of the stockpile may be based on at leastone of evaporation, convection, shortwave radiation exchange or longwaveradiation exchange. The estimation of the heat transfer within thestockpile may be based on advection of raffinate moving down through thestockpile and advection of air within the stockpile. The estimation ofthe heat generation within the interior of the stockpile is based on atleast one of exothermic chemical reactions or endothermic chemicalreactions. The estimation of the heat generation within the interior ofthe stockpile may be based on oxidation of pyrite and sulfide ores. Thesystem may modify the process parameters based on trend data of the heatprofile. The heat profile of the stockpile may comprise section-levelestimates of the heat profile.

The process parameters may comprise at least one of type of thermalfilm, the timeframe, depth of a lift in the stockpile, raffinateapplication flowrate on a surface of the stockpile, raffinatetemperature, air application rate, air wet bulb temperature, rate of theevaporation of raffinate, shortwave infrared radiation absorptivity,longwave infrared radiation absorbed at the surface of the stockpile,longwave radiation emitted from the surface of the stockpile, exothermicheat generation within the stockpile, heat transfer by convection at asurface of the stockpile and/or average temperature at an end of thetimeframe. The film may include any clear film, colored film or coatedfilm. The film may include a layer of insulating material which may beore, crushed rock or another crushed substance. For example, the type offilm may include Mantos thermal film. The raffinate application flowratemay comprise a flowrate per unit area of the raffinate on the surface ofthe stockpile. The raffinate temperature may be used for overall heatbalance. The air application rate may comprise a flow rate of air beinginjected per unit area and measured at a base of a newest lift in thestockpile, wherein the air travels up through the stockpile and exitsfrom the surface and/or side slope. The air wet bulb temperature may bebased on the air injected into the stockpile as it tends toward 100%humidity within the stockpile. The evaporation percentage may be basedon a percentage of raffinate flow rate going in at the surface of thestockpile or as an independent evaporation rate. The shortwave infraredradiation absorptivity and emissivity may be based on incoming solarradiation that is reflected out and absorbed at the surface of thestockpile. The exotherm heat generation may be based on rate of energyproduced as a result of the oxidation of ores and minerals within thestockpile. The heat transfer by convection at the surface of thestockpile may be based on at least one of heat loss directly to the airor heat loss through a thermal film cover.

In various embodiments, the system may include a method of mine materialtracking comprising receiving, by a processor, data, wherein the datacomprises load point data, shovel high-precision global positioningsystem (HPGPS) data, terrain data, provision data, haul truck sensordata (e.g., from any of the sensors in FIG. 7 ), mine data (e.g.,MineSight data), block model data and dispatch data; receiving, by theprocessor, chemical data and mineralogical data of ore at a plurality ofblast holes; interpolating, by the processor, the plurality of blastholes in the block model data; assigning, by the processor, theplurality of blast holes to a geographic location post-blast; merging,by the processor, the geographic location post-blast, the dispatch data,the terrain data and the haul truck sensor data with the block modeldata; linking, by the processor, the block model data to a truck loadbased on the merging; aggregating, by the processor, ore characteristicsfor the truck load; capturing, by the processor, images of ore that isplaced in the truck load to determine particle size distributioninformation about the ore; and determining, by the processor, a locationof the ore in a stockpile.

The load point data may include HPGPS load points. The load point datamay include at least one of terrain data, provision data or dig pointdata. The mine system data may include at least one of mine planningdata or the block model data. The dispatch data may include at least oneof haulage cycle data or beacon data. The haul truck sensor data mayprovide information about the haul trucks, as provided by any of thesensors in FIG. 7 .

In various embodiments, the system may include a method comprisingreceiving, by a processor, ore placement data for a stockpile, whereinthe ore placement data may include dispatch data, haul truck sensor data(e.g., from one or more of the sensors in FIG. 7 ), polygon data (e.g.,GIS), assay data and mineralogy data; determining, by the processor, oreplacement locations for the stockpile, based on the ore placement data;determining, by the processor, an amount of mineral extracted from thestockpile, based on historical leaching process data for the stockpile;and determining, by the processor, recovery locations for recoverableamounts of mineral in the stockpile, based on historical leachingprocess data for the stockpile.

The mineralogy data may be from the block model and included in the minematerial tracking data. The ore placement data may include the estimatedmaterial extracted from the stockpile and may include data from a columntest predictive model. Determining the ore placement locations ofrecoverable copper for the stockpile may include determining the totalmineralogy for the stockpile. Determining the amount of mineralextracted from the stockpile may include determining a primary ore mapfor the stockpile. Determining the primary ore map for the stockpile mayinclude adding flow data, irrigation data and a remaining mineralprediction from a supervised machine learning model estimating recoveryin laboratory column tests (e.g., an MLP model) to obtain information bysection and by date for the stockpile.

Determining the total mineralogy for the stockpile may includeaggregating mineralogy details to a section level by combining MMTtruckload data at a dump level, MMT imputation data at the dump leveland MMT final section mapping data at the dump level and the sectionlevel; obtaining maximum days under leach (DUL) for each section at thesection level by using irrigation data over all stockpiles at thesection level; and determining an intermediate ore map for a stockpileby combining the aggregating mineralogy details, the maximum DUL foreach section and a primary new section polygon.

Determining the primary ore map for the stockpile may include merging onthe date and the stockpile at the date level and section level bycombining the PLS, raffinate flow and/or chemistry (e.g., acid)concentration at the date level and the stockpile level with theirrigation on the stockpile at the date level and the section level;merging on the section at the date level and the section level bycombining the merge on data and the stockpile with the intermediate oremap for the stockpile; predicting mineral recovery using a column testmodel with machine learning model predictions, based on the merge onsection; and creating the primary ore map for the stockpile at thesection level based on the estimated mineral recovery.

The reallocation of the ore in the neighboring sections to the sideslopes of the stockpile may include merging on the date and thestockpile at the date level and section level; combining the raffinateflow and acid content at the date level and the stockpile level with theirrigation on the stockpile with acid content at the date level and thesection level; combining the primary ore map for the stockpile at thesection level with the primary new section polygon; combining thereallocating of the ore with the merge on data and stockpile to createthe merge on section at the date level and the section level; predictingthe mineral recovery using a column test model with machine learningmodel predictions, based on the creating the merge on section; andcreating the primary ore map slope for the stockpile at the sectionlevel based on the mineral recovery.

The method may further include reallocating the ore in neighboringsections to side slopes of the stockpile. The method may further includeproviding a visualization of the recovery locations for the recoverableamounts of mineral in the stockpile. The method may further includedetermining at least one of x,y,z coordinates or time-series layeringinformation for the recovery locations for the recoverable amounts ofmineral in the stockpile. The method may further include providing avisualization of section mineralogy populated on a map of each of thestockpiles. The method may further include filtering of the sections byat least one of lift, stockpile or mineralogy composition. The methodmay further include displaying aggregated values for at least a subsetof the sections. The method may further include defining boundaries ofthe stockpiles and the sections based on polygons recorded in ageographic information system (GIS). The method may further includemapping dump locations of haul trucks into the polygons based oncombined signals from at least one of MMT location information, GPScoordinates or a map of section identifiers and sub-piles to thestockpiles. The method may further include aggregating and averaging theMMT location information to estimate section-level characterizations ofmineralogy and P80. The method may further include estimating therecoverable amounts of mineral in the stockpile based on a column testmodel. The method may further include calculating the recoverableamounts of mineral at the section-level by deducting estimated recoveredmineral from initial placements. The method may further includedetermining which sections are economically viable for recovery viairrigation (which may include irrigation by drip, wobbler, or targetedinjection of raffinate or raffinate enhanced with acid, additives, oroxygen) based on a number of contiguous high-remaining sections and theproximity of the high-remaining sections to a top lift.

In various embodiments, the system may include a method comprising:determining, by a processor, that a haul truck completed a dump;determining, by the processor, that a sensor on the haul truck is notaccurate; determining, by the processor, that a location provided by adispatch system is not accurate; and assigning, by the processor, thedump of the haul truck to a dummy location.

The determination that the haul truck completed the dump may include atleast one of determining, by a processor, that a speed of a haul truckis below a threshold; determining, by the processor, that a gear of thehaul truck is in park; determining, by the processor, that an emergencybrake of the haul truck is set; or determining, by the processor, that abed position of the haul truck passed a threshold height. Thedetermining that the haul truck completed the dump may include receivingdata from a beacon of a dispatch system about a time the haul truckarrived at a location and dumped a load. The determining that the haultruck completed the dump is based on data from a soft sensor thatprocesses several measurements together using control theory. Thedetermining that the sensor on the haul truck is not accurate is basedon at least one of determining, by the processor, that the sensor isbroken; determining, by the processor, that the sensor is not located onthe haul truck; or determining, by the processor, that a locationprovided by a dispatch system is more accurate.

In various embodiments, the system may include a method comprisingobtaining, by a processor, days under leach, chemistry data andmineralogy data from a column test of a column of ore from a section ofa stockpile; adjusting, by the processor, process parameters applied tothe column of ore to create controlled conditions; increasing, by theprocessor, accuracy of the chemistry data and the mineralogy data basedon the controlled conditions; providing, by the processor, the chemistrydata and the mineralogy data to a machine learning model to build acolumn test predictive model; and determining, by the processor usingthe machine learning model, estimated remaining mineral in the sectionof the stockpile based on the column test predictive model.

The chemistry data may be stored in a laboratory information managementsystem (LIMS). The column test may simulate leaching in a section of orein controlled conditions. The machine learning model may be amulti-layer perceptron (MLP). The chemistry data and the mineralogy datamay include at least one of raffinate Fe, Fe2 feature, raffinate acid,raffinate additive, raffinate temperature, raffinate Cu, XCu, QLT,application rate or cure acid (ORP, Fe3+, etc). The machine learningmodel may further use agglomeration solution chemistry (e.g., acidconcentration or agglomeration additive concentration) applied in thecolumn test associated with mine for leach (MFL) processes.

The method may further include determining, by the processor using themachine learning model, the location of the estimated remaining mineralin the section of the stockpile. The method may further compriseadjusting agglomeration acid concentration applied in the column testassociated with mine for leach (MFL) processes. The method may furthercomprise adjusting a mine plan based on the estimated remaining mineral.The method may further comprise transmitting the estimated remainingmineral in the section of the stockpile to an ore map. The method mayfurther comprise training the column test predictive model on laboratoryrecords of column test performance. The method may further comprisegenerating a mineral recovery prediction from the machine learningmodel. The method may further comprise generating, by the processorusing the mineral recovery prediction, a mineral recovery curve toestimate mineral recovery from leaching over a period of time.

In various embodiments, the system may include a method comprisingreceiving, by a processor, location coordinates of vehicles making dumpson a second lift of a stockpile; aggregating and averaging, by theprocessor, the location coordinates of the vehicles to determine alocation of the vehicles; receiving, by the processor, elevation data ofthe vehicles from the location coordinates of the vehicles; determining,by the processor, a second elevation of the second lift based on theelevation data of the vehicles; and determining, by the processor, aheight of the second lift by deducting a first elevation of a first liftfrom the second elevation of the second lift. While the disclosure mayinclude the phrase “second lift”, the disclosure contemplates that thesecond lift may include any lift or subsequent lift. The second lift maybe any lift that is higher than the first lift. For example, the secondlift may be the tenth lift. Moreover, the phrases first lift and secondlift may be used interchangeably.

The location coordinates of the vehicles may be determined at a timepreceding the dumps. The location coordinates may be determined by a GPSsensor on each of the vehicles. The method may further comprise revisingthe height of the second lift by replacing the height with the conveyorheight for crush-for-leach stockpiles. The method may further comprisedetermining an estimate of a boundary of the second lift based on pathsthat the vehicles traversed. In various embodiments, the system mayrevise the boundary elevation over time using sensors that measurepoints on the surface or interior of the stockpile.

In various embodiments, the system may include a method comprisingreceiving, by a processor, location coordinates of a vehicles makingdumps on a second lift of a stockpile; aggregating and averaging, by theprocessor, the location coordinates of the vehicles to determine alocation of the vehicle; and determining, by the processor, a dumplocation by comparing the location of the vehicles with GIS polygons anddispatch data.

An accuracy of the dump location may be increased by compensating for aperiodic overlap in the GIS polygons. An accuracy of the dump locationmay be increased by compensating for the dispatch data recording adifferent beacon dump location. An accuracy of the dump location may beincreased by compensating for entry errors about the dump location.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete understanding of the present disclosure may be derivedby referring to the detailed description and claims when considered inconnection with the Figures, wherein like reference numbers refer tosimilar elements throughout the Figures, and:

FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing the integration of the block model, MMT,and haul truck sensors, in accordance with various embodiments.

FIGS. 2A and 2 B are a chart showing the features and data used by thesystem, along with descriptions, data sources and relationships withtarget variables, in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a screen shot of simulator input and simulation results, inaccordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a screen shot of backcasting results along with a graphshowing the forecast against the backcast and actual results, inaccordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the overall process, in accordance with variousembodiments.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the data that is used to create the ore map, inaccordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 7 is a list of exemplary sensors that may acquire data for thesystem, in accordance with various embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In general, the disclosure provides a system for better understandingand controlling the chemical and physical driving forces that impactleach recovery. In various embodiments, the system may include inputdata that is received by subprograms (predictive/recovery models) thatprovide outcomes that are used in algorithms (forecast engines). Thesystem may disclose relationships between metallurgist decisions,operational conditions and mining production (e.g., copper production).

The software elements of the system may be implemented with anyprogramming language or scripting language. While the system may bedescribed in terms of copper production, the system may be similarlyapplicable to any type of minerals in any of the embodiments discussedherein. For example, the system may operate with any mineral for whichvalue (e.g., metal value) may be recovered by leaching. While the systemmay be described with respect to haul trucks, shovels or other miningequipment, the system may operate and gather data from any type ofvehicle or equipment in any of the embodiments discussed herein. Whilethe system may be described in terms of raffinate or raffinateapplication, the raffinate may include other additives in any of theembodiments discussed herein. Moreover, the system may apply to acid oracid application since the acid may be part of the raffinate. In otherwords, the terms raffinate and acid may be used interchangeably in thisdisclosure.

The system may provide output data that may allow adjustments tointeracting sets of parameters to drive beneficial changes in mining(e.g., leaching) operations. The input data may relate to, for example,ore grade, recovery, processing cost, process efficiency, mine plan,block models and/or ore map. The system may also adjust models forincreasing accuracy and/or consistency by checking the output dataagainst reality. The system may also change (e.g., in real-time) orerouting calculations to adjust for changes in the output variables.Additionally, the system may optimize heap leach efficiency (whichimpacts the ore routing decision) by adjusting and optimizing thechemical and physical forces that drive copper extraction. The systemmay provide high prediction power (about 8-16% error).

In various embodiments, the system may quantify the impact of usingdifferent parameters of chemistry, temperature, material size andduration on leaching production for a specific leach pad. In variousembodiments, the system may consider truck load, mineralogy, irrigation,section history and PLS to create a digital twin model of the actualleach pad. The twin model of the actual leach pad may be used tosimulate, forecast, backcast and ore map the optimal solution for copperrecovery. In various embodiments, the system may create a virtual leachpad that may be used to simulate or forecast optimal conditions forrecovery.

In various embodiments, the system may provide for leach padoptimization including placements and/or processing. The system may useore placement targeting via dispatch, truck sensors (e.g., from one ormore of the sensors in FIG. 7 ), geographic information system (GIS)polygons and mineralogy from block model optimization to make betterdecisions about where to place ore and how to process the ore to improveproduction and/or recovery, while also considering real-worldconstraints. Machine learning models (e.g., predictive models) may beused to understand how ore characteristics and leaching practices impactboth production and recovery at each stockpile. While the phrasepredictive model may be used herein, the system contemplates the use ofany machine learning model or supervised machine learning model. Theleach pad optimization tool may build on these models to identify thebest possible decisions to maximize stockpile production and/orrecovery. To provide more practical recommendations, the system mayimplement constraints to reflect real-world limitations. The leach padoptimization tool may account for mineralogy information from the blockmodel, dispatch and truck sensors, polygons, and the predictive modelsto create recommendations for where ore should be placed and how toleach it. Constraints may include, for example, available area, flow,acid, relative costs of transporting, relative costs of leaching andexpected ore volume (produced by the mine and requiring placement). Theleach pad optimization tool may consider thousands of data points (e.g.,in seconds) to create practical recommendations (not replicable byhumans) for maximizing production and recovery.

In various embodiments, the system may generally include a simulator, amachine learning model (e.g., predictive model), a forecast engine, abackcast engine and an ore map. In various embodiments, one model maycover multiple stockpiles. In various embodiments, a global model maysummarize a leach at a phenomenological level that applies to any leachpile. In various embodiments, each stockpile or leach pad may be coveredby a separate model. The term “stockpile” may be used herein, but thesystem may similarly apply to a stockpile, multiple stockpiles, a leachpad, multiple leach pads, a lift, multiple lifts, a section, multiplesections, etc. and the terms may be used interchangeably. The stockpilemay include different layers called lifts (e.g., 50-foot heightsections). A lift may be divided into sections, wherein the section maybe any shape and size. Each section may be separately irrigated andtracked. The tracking for each section may include days under leach,raffinate flow, temperature monitoring, etc. The middle of a lift mayinclude more uniform rectangular sections, while the edges of thestockpile may include irregular shaped sections because the edges maynot be as uniform or consistently shaped as the middle of the lift. Thesystem may also disclose herein the operation of a copper mine and theextraction of copper. However, similar systems, components, data and/ormodels may be used to obtain data about any type of mine or how toimprove the extraction of any type of mineral.

In various embodiments, the system may incorporate data from differentsources into the predictive model, ore map and/or forecast engine. Thesystem may include data from various sensors throughout the mine. Thesensors may be located at different areas of the chemical plants orstockpiles. Flow sensors may be used to determine the flow rate incertain pipes, which may be used to determine application rates. Oxygensensors may be used to measure the oxygen content in the stockpiles.Solution collection devices may catch the leaching solution partwaythrough its leaching process for analysis. Solvent extraction andelectrowinning (SXEW) sensors may be involved with the setting andsimultaneous purification of the post-leaching solution. The purifiedsolution may then undergo copper electrolysis, which results in cathodecopper that meets quality and quantity criteria. In various embodiments,the system may also acquire data from sensors such as, for example,piezometers, gaseous oxygen sensors, other gas sensors (e.g., CO, CO2,H2S, SO2, NOx, and the like), dissolved oxygen sensors, flow meters,conductivity meters, resistivity meters, x-ray analytical equipment, pHsensors, ORP sensors, thermistors, temperature sensors, load sensors,and/or bioactivity sensors.

With reference to FIG. 1 , certain inputs may include data from a blockmodel. Assays from drill holes may be fed into a tool for 3Dinterpolation of assays. The 3D assay may be incorporated into a blockmodel. The block model data, the shovel high precision GPS data andmodular dispatch data may be inputs into the MMT (mine mineral tracking)Tool. The Rules-based Matching may receive inputs from one or more ofthe haul truck sensors for loading/dumping (e.g., as set forth in FIG. 7) and dispatch data. The data from the MMT tool, the ArcGIS sectionpolygons, elevation data, and the rules-based matching may be inputsinto the stockpile and section mapping. The stockpile and sectionmapping, the irrigation data and the heat soft sensor may be part of thefeature engineering tools that are fed into the predictive models. Thestockpile and section mapping may be fed into the ore map. The systemmay receive other inputs from features or data, as set forth in FIGS. 2Aand 2B, and as further described below. As set forth in FIGS. 2A and 2B,a “report” may provide a summary of what happened at the mine over acertain period of time (e.g., 24 hours, a shift, etc.). The report mayinclude information about ore placement, chemical applications, contentinformation, etc. The system may obtain certain information and datafrom the report to feed into the models. The report information may beobtained from inputted data, sensors, servers, databases, historicaldata, dispatch data, other systems, etc. The report information mayinclude information from servers because the different sensors maycommunicate with servers (e.g., PI servers from OSI) such that theservers store all (or a subset of) the sensor data.

The servers and components may provide information to an enterpriseserver or database. The system may include a data engineering (DE)pipeline that ingests the raw data, builds out features, aggregatesdata, builds the dataset for the models, creates output shapes and/orprovides output. The DE pipeline may include SQL queries, featureengineering in any suitable code (e.g., Python code), etc. The DEpipeline may generate model input tables for a feature store. Thefeature store may include a data cloud or warehouse (e.g., Snowflakedata cloud) where the data is written out from the DE pipeline or adatabase (e.g., Cosmos database) that stores different models andresults (forecasts, backcasts, etc). The feature store may provide datafor model training, etc.

The system may use the forecasts and predictions to implementoperational changes to optimize copper recovery, in advance of the orebeing placed. As such, the system may provide advanced notice forimplementing changes in ore processing methods and commoditiespurchases. For example, if the model shows that increased blastfragmentation may help the mining process and be economic, the systemmay provide a notification (or send a signal to implement a change inthe drilling system and the purchasing system) to modify blasthole drillspacing and purchase additional blasting material. If the model showsthat adding more acid may help the mining process and be more economic,the system may provide a notification (or send a signal to implement achange in the purchasing system) to purchase more acid at anadvantageous price. If the model shows that copper extraction would beimproved by higher temperature leaching, the system may provide anotification that the ore should be routed to a stockpile where heapcovers or heat addition systems may be employed. Heat addition systemsmay include the use of solar, geothermal and/or heat from otherprocessing operations by use of heat pumps, heat exchangers and/ordirect heating technologies. Moreover, if the model shows that copperextraction would be improved by higher temperature leaching and/oraeration, the system may provide a notification or signal to air blowers(or an operator of the air blowers) to automatically increase airflowand increase the pile temperature. Further, ores that benefit fromleaching at higher temperatures may (as shown by the heat soft model)benefit from co-placement with materials containing elevated levels ofpyrite (generally above 2%). The system could provide notification tomine planners or input to mine planning models, so that pyriticmaterials are most beneficially co-placed with ores to increase leachtemperatures through exothermic reaction mechanisms. In yet anotherexample, sulfide ores which may benefit from air injection may be routed(based on a notification or instruction form the system) to stockpileswhere air injection equipment (blowers and ducting) are located. Inanother example, for ores which may benefit from exposure to one or moreleach additives or combinations of additives, the system could provide anotification (or send instructions to implement the change at anadditive distribution machine), so that the optimum combination ofadditives is provided to the ore at the correct point in the leachcycle. Additionally, the model may show that a specific combination ofparameters may provide optimized metal value recovery. In this case, thesystem may provide a notification (or send instructions) to make processchanges such that each unit of ore mined is processed under optimizedconditions. In various embodiments, the system may send a signal toother systems to change irrigation rates and/or aeration rates, inresponse to measured (e.g., real-time measurements), estimated and/orcalculated inputs to the optimization simulations (e.g., optimizationalgorithms in a module). For example, if the system shows that astockpile exhibits higher copper recovery when raffinate iron contentsare high, the system may provide notification or send a signal to aniron addition system so that iron ions are added to the raffinate. Theiron ions may be added to the raffinate by the addition of new iron tothe system by a chemical addition system or by re-routing high ironsolutions from other stockpiles. In another example, if the model showsthat the biological content of a leach solution is beneficial for copperrecovery, the system may provide a notification or send a signal to abio-plant so that additional beneficial microbes are added to leachsolutions. In another example, if the model determines that copperextraction is improved when raffinate copper concentrations are low, thesystem may provide a notification or send signals so that copperextraction in downstream solvent extraction plants is increased, thusproviding a low grade raffinate.

The system may expedite the process of providing the feedback andforecasts. Prior to using the model, the feedback may have suggestedthat the stockpile variables were outside an appropriate range, so anexpert would be needed to be scheduled, the expert would need to comeonsite to analyze the stockpile variables, then the expert would need todraft a report about the findings. However, expert reviews take time. Inone instance, the day the expert report was obtained confirming thestockpile variables were outside an appropriate range, the stockpileblew out. With the model, the system may suggest (within hours) changesto implement to cause the variables to be in an appropriate range.

In various embodiments, the system may include piezometers (or porepressure meters) that allow the measurement of the magnitude anddistribution of pore pressure and the variation of pore pressurethroughout the life of the leach stockpile. The data from an array ofpiezometers can be used to evaluate flow patterns within the stockpileand the effectiveness of any control measures. In addition to addressingsafety concerns with heap stability, data from piezometers could informthe system when leach solutions are channeling within the stockpile andtherefore not contacting ore particles uniformly. The system may usesuch information to identify the potential for unleached copper in agiven area so that the unleached copper could be designated for recoveryvia methods such as, for example, re-mining or deep raffinate injection.

The forecast may be used to optimize future mine plans. Based on theforecast, the optimization process may be applied to inputs to suggestimpactful changes. The system may suggest DUL (days under leach) cyclesbased on optimal forecasted production. The system may providecross-pile forecasts that may drive optimization of placements betweenleach stockpiles. The system may determine an optimal diversion ofraffinate between stockpiles to maximize leach production, so the systemmay send a signal to the raffinate dispenser or router to divert theraffinate over a different pathway. The system may determine dumpallocations to lifts/piles based on forecasted production, so the systemmay send signals to the routing system (or directly to automated haultrucks) to change the routing of the haul trucks. The ore map tool maydetermine areas to automatically re-leach based on remaining Cucalculations, so the system may send a signal to a dispenser toautomatically start a re-leaching process. The ore map may alsodetermine areas to be re-mined based on a determination that re-miningefficiencies may exist, so the system may send a signal to a schedulingsystem or mining machine to start re-mining a certain area. In variousembodiments, the system may determine that a particular stockpile on aparticular area of a stockpile may benefit from increased acid addition.As such, the system may send a signal to an auto-valve that could bedirected to open to a setpoint so that additional acid is added to theraffinate destined for a particular area under leach or to be leached.In various embodiments, the system may also determine (based on previousdata or a column test model) that ore placed in a particular area of astockpile may benefit from the addition of an additive or a combinationof additives, microbes, and leach catalysts. As such, the system maysend a signal to one or more auto-valves that could be directed to opento setpoints, so that one or a combination of additives, microbes, andleach catalysts may be added to the raffinate bound for a given area ofthe leach stockpile. Being able to model leach optimizations for futureore placements is also beneficial in that mine and haulage plans may beadjusted in advance. For example, if the system determines that ore fromone or more locations in the mine would provide optimal copper recoveryif it were stacked at a certain lift height (e.g., 20 feet), the mineplan can take this into account. An accumulation of data on optimal liftheights for all the ore to be leached year by year may allowcalculations of stockpile dimensions to meet production requirements.These calculations may further help with enhanced land planning andwater planning.

The simulator may be part of (or interact with) the predictive modelbecause the simulator may adjust the historical data in the predictivemodel (wherein the predictive model was trained with such historicaldata). As shown in FIG. 3 , in various embodiments, the simulator mayrun experiments to find production-maximizing recipes across differentprocess parameters. The simulator may leverage the predictive model torun “what if” scenarios by replacing observed historical values withuser-set or automatically determined alternate values. The model may betrained on the distribution of data, and the model may be re-run withthe alternative value. The alternative values may not be a direct changeto a process parameter; rather, the alternate value may include a changeto an average value during the simulated time period. For example, thesimulator may provide what the production should have been if P80 hadbeen an inch smaller on average for the last year. The simulatorprovides the alternative values or changed values to the predictivemodel, and the system re-runs the prediction model with the alternativevalues or changed values to provide a simulated result. For example, thesimulator may provide the production value of a particular stockpile ifthe acid dosage had been increased or decreased. Further, the simulatormay provide the impact of placing ore of a given mineralogy on the leachstockpile. If, for example, an ore having high acid consumption wasplaced on the stockpile, the simulator may provide an estimate of theimpact of other ore within the stockpile being acid starved duringleaching. In another example, the simulator may provide the productionvalue of a particular stockpile if the temperature during leaching hadbeen increased. The simulator may adjust other variables such as, forexample, raffinate flow, mineralogy, ore information, life height andcure acid per ton. The raffinate flow may include, for example,raffinate flow plus separate UCC raffinate flow option for a stockpile,application rate, raffinate acid, raffinate total Fe, raffinate Feratio, and/or raffinate Cu. Mineralogy and ore information may includeTCU grade, XCU grade, QLT, P80 and/or dumptons.

The system may include a platform for receiving and combining theinputs. The inputs may be considered x values. The system may use, forexample, a predictive model for combining all or any subset of thevarious inputs. In various embodiments, the predictive model may includea GAM (Generalized Additive Model). A GAM is a linear model that mayalso model nonlinear data. A GAM may not be restricted to a relationshipthat is a simple weighted sum, but instead, the GAM may assume that theoutcome may be modelled by a sum of arbitrary functions of each feature.The GAM may replace beta coefficients from linear regression with aflexible function which allows nonlinear relationships. This flexiblefunction may include a spline. A spline may include complex functionsthat allow the modeling of non-linear relationships for each feature.The sum of many splines may form the GAM. The result is a highlyflexible predictive model which still may be partially explained with alinear regression. The complexity of the GAM may be controlled inaccordance with domain expertise. The system may define the shape ofeach input relationship and the GAM model may learn the shapes for eachof the many inputs. The GAM model may combine the input relationships tocreate an overall prediction. The system may evaluate the GAM modelperformance using, for example, R 2 (percent variance explained) andMAPE (percent error/accuracy).

In various embodiments, the predictive model may use historical data tocreate a prediction about the expected direct production in thestockpile or leach pad based on how the stockpile or pad was managed.The system may build a mathematical representation of the stockpile(e.g., using geologic data and mineralogic data). The system may obtaindata about the stockpile based on any time period (e.g., each day). Thepredictive model may also use similar data that helps to generate theore map.

In various embodiments, the predictive model may be trained by combiningsuch historical data values in such a way that results in an outcome.The outcome of the predictive model may be considered a y-value. Thepredictive model may, for example, analyze onsite leaching initiativesand estimate the value of potential interventions. For example, thepredictive model may help determine what the effect of decreasing P80 by1 inch in a stockpile will be in Q4 of 2022. In another example, thepredictive model may determine what the effect of increasing ordecreasing the acid content of the raffinate will be in Q1 of 2023.After the predictive model uses the training set of data, the system mayvalidate the predictive model. The trained predictive model may beprovided with a test set of data to validate the model. The test set ofdata may include data that is different from the training set of data.When obtaining the validation data, in various embodiments, the systemmay split the data and/or incorporate a time lag with a rolling timewindow (out-of-time validation or walk forward validation). One of thereasons for the lag is that the quantity of the new ore may beinsignificant compared to the very large stockpile. As such, the new oreplaced on a large stockpile may not impact the stockpile production forweeks or months, so system uses the historical data from a previous timeperiod. The system does not use training data from the day that thesystem is trying to predict for, but rather uses historical trainingdata from weeks or months prior to the day the system is trying topredict for. For example, the system may use training data fromJanuary-March, but the test data may be data from May-June (skippingApril data). The test set of data may include the x values (inputs),then the predictive model may calculate the y value (output). As such,the validation process may use the test data to help determine if thetraining data set has one or more flaws.

The system may provide for enterprise aggregation of leach data thatincludes the synchronization of the leach data across business unitsand/or across mines. The system may create or adjust the predictivemodel based on new predictive abilities due to analytics. The predictivemodel may be based on empirical data, and not physical or chemicalequations.

In various embodiments, the system may also include a forward-lookingforecast engine. The forecast engine may use desired parameters as theinput data to create future predictions. The forecast engine may runscenarios and iterate quickly to determine how to maximize (andaccurately estimate) future production. The forecast engine may also beused to understand the drivers of performance and how to increaseproduction in the future. The forecast engine may forecast futureproduction, based on how the stockpile behaved in the past and futureproduction assumptions. The future production assumptions may includethe settings and parameters that may be planned for the near future. Inother words, the future production assumptions may include the settingof parameters for how the stockpile should operate in the future (e.g.,over the next year). The forecast engine may utilize the trained andtested predictive model, along with certain future productionassumptions (which may be obtained from the mine plan). The forecast mayuse data from the mine plan (e.g., 1-5 year mine plan) such as, forexample, geological exploration (e.g., data about where the sulfides(e.g., including pyrite), mixed ores and/or oxides are located in themine map), route plan (e.g., route ore to a particular location over aperiod of time), irrigation plan, ore map, etc. The user may enter suchmine plan data (obtained from other tools and sensors) into the systemor the system may acquire such mine plan data from the tools andsensors. The forecast engine may provide forecasting and predictionsabout the ore that has not yet been placed and will be leached under aset of predicted conditions. The forecasting process may combineestimates from a predictive model (trained on historical data onstockpile-level copper production) with forward-looking estimates oflikely values for each predictor in the model. Estimates for predictorsmay be determined based on the mine plan (for placements and grades),recent historical values, DUL estimation or by ‘helper’ models thatestimate settings via a predictive approach. End users may overridethese settings by inputting expert-determined values or differenthistorical data via a graphical user interface.

The forecast engine may allow inputs to create an input table such as,for example, a project identifier, a plan identifier, a forecast timeperiod of interest, the option to use calculated data or the option touse the data from the mine plan. The pre-set options may include, forexample, flow, TCu, XCu and total tonnage placed. The system maygenerate an input table (e.g., 5 year monthly forecast file) based onthe forecast input. The user may manually enter other key inputs for theforecast.

In various embodiments, the forecast engine may include forecast inputtable creation logic. The system may supplement the recent values thatthe predictive model was trained on and the historical model input tablewith other data to develop the input table (e.g., future model inputtable) for the forecast model. Dumped sections and the future sectionsmay include columns such as, for example, on/off dates, TCu, XCu, QLT,P80, tons and/or water-soluble Cu assays (e.g., for re-miningapplications). The dumped sections may be derived from ore map data andDUL data via a DUL model. The future sections may be derived from DULdata via a DUL model, the mine plan and user inputs. The lift height maybe derived from user inputs. The application rate may be derived fromrecent values (from the historical model input table). The raffinatechemistry may also be derived from the recent values. The Area On mayreceive data from the dumped sections, the future sections and the liftheight. The heat soft sensor may receive the application rate and theraffinate chemistry. The flow may receive data associated with the AreaOn and application rate. The Lift Temperature may receive the data fromthe heat soft sensor. As such, the future model input table may receiveinput data from all (or any subset) of the above sources.

In various embodiments, the system may include backcasting via abackcast engine which breaks down the sources of an error. As such, thebackcast engine may be run after the period in question. The backcastengine may understand the drivers of performance, the interactions ofthe drivers and/or how to increase production in the future. As setforth in FIG. 4 , the backcast may reconcile the forecast (what isexpected to be produced) with what is actually produced. The backcastand forecast may use the same predictive model (so both the backcast andforecast learn from the same information), in order to properlyreconcile the actual and predicted performance. A mine may not operateas expected due to various changes (e.g., unexpected variance inoperating norms or parameters driven by human deviation from forecastplans), so the actual performance of the mine may not match thepredicted performance. For example, the forecast may include 1000 poundsof copper, but the actual production is 750 pounds of copper. If anydeviations exist between the output of the forecast engine and theactual data, the system may evaluate the deviations (e.g., using datascience) to generate a product backcast.

The backcast may re-run the forecast, but instead of using inputparameters as the input parameters were predicted to happen, thebackcast may incorporate the actual input parameters that the stockpileexperienced. Differences between actual production and backcastedproduction indicate areas of the model that may be further refined. Thesystem may adjust each variable from the desired amount to the actualproduction amount. By adjusting the variables to the actual amounts, thebackcast enables breaking down the deviations by specific causes.Determining the specific causes helps to determine how the predictivemodel and/or forecast may be changed to improve the accuracy of thepredictive model and/or forecast. In the above example, the system mayuse the backcast and the same predictive model to determine thatadjusting the days under leach may account for 50 pounds, adjusting forthe head grade may account for 75 pounds, and adjusting for theraffinate flow may account for 125 pounds. Because the forecast periodis already completed, the system can use observed actual information todetermine which parameters to adjust to better match the desiredforecast. Therefore, the backcast may determine how to adjust theparameters to compensate for the 250 pound deviation. The adjustmentsmay be provided in a report, displayed on a screen, provided assuggestions and/or may be used to initiate practical applications. Forexample, the adjustments may result in sending a signal to a machine toadjust the machine's operations in line with achieving the desiredproduction.

As another example, because raffinate iron was worse than expected inFebruary, copper production was 1.38M pounds lower than predicted. Thesystem may then implement adjustments to optimize production in thefuture (e.g., adjustments that impact raffinate iron). The system mayrepeatedly flag raffinate iron issues at a stockpile. The system may rundifferent scenarios with different ferric concentrations to size theproduction impact for the stockpile. The system may determine thatmaintaining forecasted ferric concentrations results in 31.9M pounds ofcopper for the stockpile compared to recently observed ferric ratios.Based on these findings, the system may implement initiatives such asincreasing cure acid, raffinate solution chemistry (e.g., acidconcentration) or applying pyrite.

The backcast may quantify the impact of each variable for optimization.A production backcast may be generated from a reconciliation betweenmodel assumptions and actual data. The backcast may foster performancedialogs by estimating the parameter-by-parameter drivers of the gapbetween the forecast and actual production. The backcast may cyclethrough forecast values and the backcast may replace each forecast valuein sequence with observed values. The backcast may re-estimate thepredictions after each replacement to benchmark the role that a givenparameter played in driving the production gap. For example, estimatedplacements may be replaced with actual placements, while all otherforecast parameters are held constant. The predictions made with theseinputs estimate the effect that missed placements had on driving a gapbetween the forecast data and the actual data. The estimated placementsmay be re-incorporated into the predictive model, and for example, theestimated P80 may be replaced with the observed P80. The predictioncycle may estimate the effect that the variance in the expected particlesize distribution plays in driving the gap between the forecast data andthe actual data. The estimated P80 may go back into the model and theiterative logic may repeat, cycling through every input into theforecast sequentially to make a comprehensive estimate of the drivers ofthe forecast gap.

The ore map may not only determine the ore that has been placed, but theore map may help target economic pockets of old copper for recoveryinitiatives. In various embodiments, and as shown in FIG. 6 , the oremap may include ore placement targeting via dispatch data, truck sensordata (e.g., from one or more of the sensors in FIG. 7 ), GIS polygondata and/or mineralogy data (e.g., from a block model). The ore map mayuse similar data and models to determine the amount of copper extractedthrough the leaching process. The ore map may also provide avisualization of where the stockpile includes recoverable amounts ofcopper, based on the historical leaching processes for the stockpile.

As set forth in FIG. 6 , the ore map data flow may include adetermination of the total mineralogy per stockpile. The system mayobtain information from MMT, section mapping, irrigation and polygons.More specifically, the system may join and aggregate mineralogy detailsto the section level by combining the MMT truckload data at the dumplevel, the MMT imputation data at the dump level and the MMT finalsection mapping data (combination of MMT, haul truck sensor anddispatch) at the dump level or section level. The system may also obtainthe maximum DUL for each section at the section level by using theirrigation data (raffinate flow, quantity, time, etc) over allstockpiles at the section level. The intermediate ore map for astockpile may combine the section level aggregation of mineralogydetails, the section level maximum DUL for each section and the primarynew section polygon.

The ore map data flow may also include the addition of flow data,irrigation data and remaining copper prediction from an MLP model toobtain information by section and by date for a stockpile. The systemuses data about where the copper is from, where the copper is placed andwhere the copper is remaining. The system may merge on the date andstockpile at the date level and section level by combining the PLS gradeand flow and/or chemistry (e.g., acid) concentration at the date leveland stockpile level with the raffinate irrigation on a stockpile at thedate level and section level. The system merges the date and stockpile,so the system can provide raffinate chemistry data and irrigation dataat the date level and understand the impact on the section on that date.The merge on section at the date level and section level may combine themerge on data and stockpile with the intermediate ore map for astockpile. The merge on section may be used to predict the estimatedcopper recovery (and score) using a column test model with MLPpredictions. The estimated copper recovery (and score) may be used bythe primary ore map for a stockpile at the section level.

The ore map data flow may further include reallocating ore inneighboring sections to the side slopes. The system may merge on thedate and stockpile at the date level and section level by combining theraffinate flow and acid content at the date level and stockpile levelwith the irrigation on a stockpile with acid content at the date leveland section level. The system may reallocate the ore from neighboringsections to slopes by combining the primary ore map for a stockpile atthe section level with the primary new section polygon. The merge onsection at the date level and section level may combine the reallocatethe ore with the merge on data and stockpile. The merge on section maybe used to create the copper recovery features and score using a columntest model with MLP predictions. The system may merge on the date andstockpile at the date level and section level by combining the PLS gradeand flow and/or acid concentration with the raffinate flow acid at thedate level and pile level with the raffinate irrigation on a stockpilewith acid at the date level and section level. The copper recoveryfeatures and score may be used by the primary ore map slope for astockpile at the section level.

The ore map may also include 4D visualization, including x,y,z and timeinformation. The ore map may provide interactive visualization of all(or any subset) stockpiles, section mineralogy populated on the map ofeach stockpile, filtering of sections by lift, stockpile or mineralogycomposition and/or displaying aggregated values for selected sections.Ore Map 4D visualization (aka “ore finder”) may include determining x,y, z locations of the remaining copper and time-series layering. The oremap may define stockpile and section boundaries based on polygonsrecorded in GIS. Dump locations of haul trucks may be mapped into thesepolygons based on combined signals from MMT location information (whichobtains information from a beaconing system), GPS coordinates pulledfrom sensors and other systems on haul trucks and mapping sectionidentifiers and sub-piles to specific leach stockpiles. After the dumplocations of trucks are known, the MMT data (associated with all trucksmatched to a given section) are aggregated and averaged to estimatesection-level characterizations of mineralogy and P80. Recovery fromthese sections may be estimated based on the column test model, and theremaining copper may be calculated at the section-level by deductingestimated recovered copper from initial placements. Finally, the systemmay determine which sections are economically viable for recovery viadrip, wobbler or injection irrigation based on a number of contiguoushigh-remaining sections and the proximity of the high-remaining sectionsto a top lift.

In various embodiments, the column tests may use column test modeling toleverage machine learning (e.g., a deep learning architecture) appliedto lab copper leach tests to estimate recovery. The ore map may furtherinclude data from a column test predictive model which may includeapplying deep learning to copper leach tests. The column test predictivemodels may be trained on laboratory records of column test performance.The predictors may include mineralogy, solution chemistry (e.g., acidconcentration) and raffinate flow. Solution chemistry may include anychemical constituent or any chemical property (e.g., bio). Thepredictors may also include temperature, the introduction of air and/orthe addition of leach enhancing additives, microbes, or catalysts. Theestimates obtained from these column test predictive models may serve toestimate section-level recovery in the ore map.

The chemistry data results from an assay of the column test may bestored in a laboratory information management system (LIMS) that maymanage the collection, processing, storage, retrieval, and/or analysisof information generated in laboratories and/or in the mines. Forexample, the system may use StarLims as its LIMS. The mineralogy data ofthe column test may be stored in another database. The column testsimulates leaching in a section (or column) of ore in controlledconditions. The controlled conditions include adjusting differentprocess parameters applied to the column of ore. The controlledconditions may result in increasing the accuracy of the chemistry dataand mineralogy data to be used for modeling. A multi-layer perceptron(MLP) may receive the days under leach data, chemistry data andmineralogy data from the leach column tests to build a column testpredictive model. The MLP is a neural network that is used in the oremap tool to determine the estimated remaining copper in a section of astockpile. In particular, the MLP uses geologic data and mineralogicdata to determine a location in the section of the stockpile theproduction occurred from and what is left in the stockpile. The columntest may provide output data for use in the MLP. The output data mayinclude, for example, the recovery kinetics (e.g., days on leach) ofcopper or the amount of acid consumed. The input data for the columntest may include, for example, raffinate Fe (may include Fe2 feature),raffinate acid, raffinate Cu, XCu, QLT, application rate, cure acid(e.g., ORP), temperature and/or the use of additives, microbes, orcatalysts. With regard to the cure acid, the MLP may includeagglomeration acid concentration which is applied in column tests andused for mine for leach (MFL) processes.

The system may provide the chemistry data and the mineralogy data to theMLP to build a column test predictive model. The system may determine,using the MLP, the estimated remaining mineral in the section of thestockpile based on the column test predictive model. The system maytransmit the estimated remaining mineral in the section of the stockpileto an ore map. The system may train the column test predictive model onlaboratory records of column test performance. The system may generate amineral recovery prediction from the MLP. The system may generate, usingthe mineral recovery prediction, a mineral recovery curve to estimatemineral recovery from leaching over a period of time.

A simple neural network may include an input layer, a hidden layer andan output layer. The hidden layer may include several small decisionnodes (called neurons) that independently model data. Each neuron hasinput data and output data as parameters. A synapse is a connectionbetween two neurons and has a weight as its key parameter. The finaloutputs may be determined by weighting information obtained from eachneuron in the hidden layer. The system may also use deep learning whichis a network of neural networks that learns in phases. The informationmay be pooled to find higher-level features that are ingested by thenext layer. The deep learning may use a large amount of data to achievestrong performance, but the results may be complicated to interpret whenthe networks are excessively deep.

The block model provides an understanding of ore placements into thestockpile. In various embodiments, the block model may use drill holedata to map the location of the ore (e.g., in 3 dimensions), head grade,clays, geologic data and/or mineralogic data. The drill hole data may beused determine blast size, blast pattern and a blast plan. The blastdoes not excessively disrupt the ore, so the location of certainmineralogic areas is still known (e.g., high grade ore area, low gradeore area, high clay area, etc). The locations of those mineralogic areasmay be associated with different shovel loads, truck loads, etc. Forexample, the system may have data about a specific truck on a specificday obtaining ore from a particular location, and that ore has certainmineralogic features. Based partly on the haul truck sensors and thedispatch system, the system may have data about where the ore wasobtained, where the ore is placed in the stockpile, when the ore wasplaced on the stockpile, the order that the ore was placed on thestockpile and other data about the ore. As such, system includes a fullblock model of the final placement tracking system.

The geologic block model may obtain information from drilling, assaying,geotechnical work, mapping, etc. to help determine conditions.Geo-statistics and tools may interpolate and extend values into allpertinent blocks. The block model may include a spatially correctdatabase of the geology information based on sampling and geologicinterpretation. Each block may maintain many items that are coded withquality (e.g., metal grades, type of materials, lithology, alteration,etc.) and quantity (e.g., densities, topographic completeness,structures, etc.) codes and information. The block model may visuallydisplay the block model grades and HPGPS (high-precision globalpositioning system) dig points. As such, the block model may includeadding value in block models based on analytics output and turning“waste” stockpiles into economic reserves.

The block model may provide coordinates for the ore. The ore may bedrilled and blasted, then the system re-maps the ore in the block modelbased on how the ore may have been moved in the blast. The system mayprovide the data about the new location of the ore and the contents ofthe ore to the shovel which will load the ore into large haul trucks fortransport to appropriate destinations. The system may also include thecapturing of dig coordinates with each scoop of the shovel bucket, sothe shovel or system can determine if a certain ore section is in thatparticular scoop. The system may use CAES (computer aided earthmovingsystem) products called Terrain or ProVision to obtain the scoop data.The system or shovel may determine where the ore should be placed basedon the contents of the ore in the scoop, after the ore is scooped up bythe shovel. For example, the system may determine that a first ore scoopwith more copper content should be placed in a first truck that isscheduled to go to a particular leach stockpile, while a second orescoop with less copper should be placed in a second truck that may bescheduled to go to a mill or different area.

In various embodiments, the system may use different variables andengineering features as inputs to the predictive model to improve leachefficiency and impact leach recovery. The leach recovery directlyinfluences mine operating costs and ore routing decisions. For example,if conditions are not ideal and copper recovery is poor, the cost torecover a pound of copper from a ton of ore increases. The costs ofmining, transporting, and placing the ton of ore on a heap leachstockpile may not be overcome if an insufficient amount of copper isextracted from that ton of ore. Inversely, when heap leach recovery isoptimized, more copper is recovered from each ton of ore placed andprofitability improves. If the cost of heap leaching (dollars per poundof copper recovered) is too high and if the mineralogy is appropriate,it may be economically advantageous to route that ton of ore to a frothfloatation and smelting process to recover the copper. If the grade ofthe ore is too low to justify processing costs that would be incurredeither by leaching or froth flotation, that scoop of ore may be routedto waste.

For a stockpile, the system may obtain raw data inputs such as, forexample, raffinate flow acid, polygon selections (e.g., ArcGIS),weather, truck load (e.g., from MMT), truck dump locations (e.g., fromthe dispatch system), grade (e.g., from mine plan and load information)and/or section mapping. The truck load, truck dump locations and graderaw data may be subject to feature creation and feature cleaning viaimputation. Imputation may include replacing any missing values with anestimate (e.g., from dummy sections), then analyzing the full data setas if the imputed values were actual observed values. Irrigation data(e.g., irrigation stockpile with acid) may be added to the polygonselection data. The imputed data may be combined with raw section-levelmineralogy data for a stockpile. Raffinate flow acid for a particularstockpile may be added to the raw data for the raffinate flow data. Thesystem may repeat a similar process for additional stockpiles.

The potential predictive variables for leach production may be found indifferent areas such as mineralogy, irrigation and raffinate. Thepotential predictive variables may also include new features such asheat, lift height and blowers. Experimenting may help determine such newfeatures that improve model performance. The potential predictivevariables for mineralogy may include, for example, TCu percentage, XCupercentage, QLT percentage, P80 size and tons. The predictive model mayleverage either XCu or QLT depending on which is the most performant.The potential predictive variables for irrigation may include, forexample, raffinate application rate, area under irrigation and/or DUL.The potential predictive variables for raffinate may include, forexample, raffinate flow rate, raffinate chemistry (Cu, Fe, Fe2/Fe3),raffinate acid, cure acid, and/or the concentration of any leachenhancing additives. The potential predictive variables may alsoinclude, for example, ambient temperature, days under leach, slide slopeirrigation, wobbler v drip, ore permeability, precipitation, groundtemperature and/or ore hardness. The system may include a variable suchas venting to aerate the raffinate.

The system may try to make the predictive models for differentstockpiles more similar, so the system may collect data about thedifferent stockpiles based on the similar predictive models. If a firststockpile has similar features as a second stockpile in a differentlocation, the system may take a similar predictive model that was usedfor the first stockpile and use it for the second stockpile. The systemmay also use the similar models to determine how changing parameters orenvironmental conditions at different stockpiles may impact the leachingprocess. As such, the system may use the predictive models tostandardize the approach and improve comparability between differentstockpiles.

A distinguishing factor between a copper bearing mineral and an economiccopper ore is the economic benefit that can be derived from extractingvalue from processing the material. The copper grade is a factor in thisanalysis. The copper grade is the amount of copper present in each tonof rock. The copper grade is often expressed as a percentage of totalcopper present. While knowing how much copper is present in the rock isa good indicator of economic viability, the amount of copper present inthe rock does not necessarily tell the whole story. The coppermineralogy is also important, as well as the relative amounts of othervaluable minerals that may be co-extracted with the copper. The amountsand values of economically important elements can be mathematicallycombined with the amount of copper to provide a copper equivalent grade.For example, when molybdenum sulfide is present in an orebody and can beco-extracted with the copper in the froth flotation process, the copperequivalent grade can be expressed as: Grade Copper Equivalent=% Cu+C*%Mo, where C is a factor based on the economic value of molybdenum in anycurrent market conditions. Therefore, the copper equivalent grade of anore that contains metal values in addition to copper can changeaccording to commodity markets. This is important to ore routingbecause, while froth flotation is able to recover molybdenum in the formof the naturally occurring mineral molybdenum disulfide, leachingprocesses are typically not able to recover molybdenum. Likewise, theprecious metals (e.g., gold, silver and platinum) may be recovered byfroth flotation and smelting processes, but such precious metals may notbe recovered by heap leaching. As such, the processes, mechanics andeconomics of ore routing may be optimized by utilization of models,simulators and engines that are adjustable according to metal pricingand market conditions. Ores that contain un-economic percentages ofcopper are said to be “below-cutoff-grade” materials. Because theprocessing cost via froth flotation and smelting is higher than that forheap leaching, ores that are below the “mill cutoff grade” may often beeconomically processed via leaching.

In various embodiments, the dispatch system may be used for trackingequipment status and/or position. The dispatch data may be used in theMMT and/or the Rules-based Matching. The dispatch system may alsoinclude cycle optimization (e.g., routing and scheduling based on mineplans as well as capacities of crusher, etc.), balance idle equipmenttimes, balance queue times, manage fuel, operator's performance,productivity, etc. A typical haulage cycle may include receiving truckloads from the assigned shovel, traveling with a full truckload to anassigned dumping location, arriving at the dump queue, dumping the load,traveling empty back to the assigned shovel, arriving at the shovelqueue, spotting, and then the cycle may repeat. The haulage cycle datamay include a shovel identifier, a shovel location identifier, a truckidentifier, a load time and data and a stockpile identifier. Thespotting may be the appropriate locations for the truck to be able toreceive the ore from the shovel or the appropriate locations for thetruck to be able dump its load in the appropriate section.

Rules-based matching is used to analyze two or more inputs about where ahaul truck may have placed a load. A dispatch system (e.g., Modulardispatch system) may include a beacon system that may provide data aboutthe time a truck arrived at a certain location and dumped a load. Thedispatch system may set a beacon many miles away from the dump locationbased on how the stockpile or lift may be configured. The truck sensormay provide data about a truck dumping a load at a particular location(e.g., latitude, longitude and elevation) and at a particular time. Thetruck sensors may include one or more sensors that may be added totrucks by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), added to the trucksby the OEM based on a customer request and/or added to the trucks by acustomer. For example, some trucks may have over 350 different sensors(e.g., FIG. 7 sets forth a list of some of the sensors) that providedata about different aspects of the truck and its actions. The sensorsmay include GPS sensors that provide GPS data about the location ormovement of the truck, load sensors that may track the weight of theload, dump sensors that may track the bed position, energy sensors thatmay track the amount of energy (e.g., gas, propane, electric, etc)stored in the truck or being used by the truck, gear sensor that maymonitor that gear placement in the truck, a brake sensor that maymonitor when the emergency brake is set, etc. The system may alsoinclude soft sensors. A soft sensor (software sensor or virtual sensor)may provide an indirect measurement using a combination of process data(input) and a model that uses the input data to predict a targetquantity (output). The input data used for the prediction may becomposed of signals from hardware sensors and actuators. The soft sensormay process several measurements together using control theory.

The system may use rules to determine that a dump occurred based on, forexample, the truck not moving (or speed below a threshold), the truckgear is in park, the emergency brake being set and the bed positionpassing a threshold height. The system may presume that the truck sensordata is accurate, unless the system determines (e.g., based on a seriesof rules) that the sensor is broken, a sensor is not located on thetruck and/or the dispatch location should be trusted instead. If thesystem determines that the sensor data and the dispatch data may not besufficiently accurate, then the system puts the truck load in a dummylocation. The system may use the dummy location to account for the loadbeing dumped, but the system may not know precisely where the load wasdumped.

Mine vehicles (e.g., haul trucks) typically include a sensor (e.g., OEMsensor) that provides GPS readings. GPS sensor readings may provide thex, y, and z coordinates of vehicles making dumps to a particular lift ona stockpile. The sensor may be read at a time preceding the dump (e.g.,30 seconds before the dump) because the sensors are more accurate whilethe truck is moving. In various embodiments, the coordinates may beaggregated and averaged in order to determine the physical location ofthe vehicle as it approaches and then dumps the ore. The elevation datamay be used to determine the elevation of the lift. Deducting theanalogous elevation measurement from the prior lift provides a mechanismto calculate stockpile (or top lift) height from sequential measurementsof the lift heights in the stockpile. For crush-for-leach stockpiles,the lift height may be set by the conveyor height, wherein the conveyormay have a sensor that provides the conveyor height to the system. Theore map may be used for conveyor stacked stockpiles and may includeconveyor location data, belt sampler data, etc.

Because trucks travel across the top of the lift of the stockpile thatthey are building, the further aggregation of measurements from multiplevehicles serves to estimate the boundary of the stockpile's top lift.For example, the system may determine the paths traversed by each truckand form a boundary around all of the paths, and the truck path boundarymay estimate the boundary of the stockpile's top lift. In variousembodiments, the system may revise the boundary elevation over timeusing sensors that measure points on the surface or interior of thestockpile.

In various embodiments, the aggregated x, y, z information from thetrucks may be compared with defined GIS Polygons and dispatchinformation to provide more accurate dump location precision. Such acomparison may be helpful to improve the accuracy of the dump locationdue to potential errors from periodic overlap in polygons, dispatchrecording a different beacon dump location, or other manual dumplocation entry errors. A polygon feature may be a GIS object that storesits geographic representation as one of its properties (or fields) inthe row in the database. The geographic representation may include aseries of x and y coordinate pairs that enclose an area. A geographicinformation system (GIS) is a computer-based tool for mapping andanalyzing things that exist and events that happen on Earth. GIStechnology integrates common database operations such as query andstatistical analysis with the unique visualization and geographicanalysis benefits offered by maps.

With respect to stockpile and section mapping, in general, the systemmay receive the dump location information (e.g., from MMT and trucksensors). The system may combine the dump location information with GISpolygons. The GIS polygons include information about the section of thestockpile that the load was dumped, including name, characteristics,physical location in x, y, z space, etc. Thus, the system providesinformation about where in a stockpile the dumped ore exists (and mayexist in perpetuity until re-mined in the future). Based on thisinformation, the system may provide a map of (and target) a specificsection in a specific stockpile and at an x, y, z location that a truckdumped ore. The system may build a composite of all of the dumps insidethis section of this stockpile.

More specifically, for each stockpile, the system may obtain the MMTsection mapping data table by combining or joining the MMT truckloaddata to get the dump location, the location data to obtain the x, ycoordinates for each dump location, the dump data to get the GPS x, ylocation from dispatch and the section data to get the section polygon.The system may combine the MMT section mapping tables from stockpiles ina mine into a MMT section mapping dispatch data table for the mine. Thesystem may obtain the MMT section mapping haul truck data table bycombining or joining the MMT truckload data to get the dump location,the location data, the dump data to get the dump identifier, the sectiondata to get the section polygon, the haul truck idle at dump data to getthe dump start and end timing and the sensor fixed interval data to getthe haul truck GPS longitude and latitude. The MMT section mapping for amine may combine the MMT section mapping dispatch data table, the MMTsection mapping haul truck data table and the haul truck GPS status(that provides GPS quality). The system may preform a preprocessing stepto handle sections with overlap. The system may combine the data intodifferent tables such as, for example, the section polygon table, thedump location lift map (dispatch) and the haul truck dump location basedon GPS. The haul truck dump location based on GPS may be sent to a haultruck (sensor) section mapping. The section polygon table and the dumplocation lift map may be combined into a dispatch section mapping table.The MMT section mapping table may be a combination of the dispatchsection mapping table and the haul truck (sensor) section mapping.

In various embodiments, the system may use ore characteristics as inputsinto the predictive models and to determine the type of ore in eachshovel load. The ore characteristics may include ore quality and oregrade. Ore quality may include, for example, total copper, acid solublecopper, QLT, P80, iron values, clay values and/or pyrite values. Oregrade may include, for example, total copper and acid soluble copper.

The size distribution of the ore is a factor in determining how muchcopper can be leached from the ore. Ores with very high copper contentson the order of 3 to 4% copper have a high enough value that the ore canbe finely ground and leached in stirred tanks. In this case, nearly allthe mineral grains in the ore are liberated and available for contact byleach solutions. However, ores with such high metal contents are rare.More commonly, leach ores contain between 0.1 and 0.5% copper andleaching is handled at the most economically advantageous particle size.While the P80 size is commonly used to provide one number that nominallyrepresents an entire size distribution, this simplified method hasdrawbacks. Most notably, the P80 does not tell the proportion of fineparticles that are present. Fine particles present in heap leachstructures may migrate and plug up solution flow channels, blindingportions of the heap off from contact with leach solutions.

In various embodiments, the system may also include any sizedistribution model that helps to describe the impact of particle size onrecovery. For example, the system may incorporate a model that relatescopper recovery to size distribution. The data to build such a model maybe acquired from leach column testing and pilot testing. In these tests,ore of the same mineralogy and textural attributes is blasted or crushedto different size distributions. For example, a split sample of Run ofMine ore with a P80 of 8 inches could be loaded into large diametercolumns and leached to obtain a certain recovery after a given number ofdays. Another split could be crushed to a P80 of 6 inches and columntested in an identical way. Other splits of the same sample could becrushed to different particle size distributions and leached. Becauseboth the ore and the leaching method are similar, any statisticalrecovery differences may be attributed to a change in particle size.This change in recovery by particle size distribution could be expressedmathematically and incorporated into the system either alone or incombination with other factors such as mineralogy and grade. Such amodel may be somewhat ore-specific because mineral particle sizes androck type associations vary from ore to ore, but as a library of oretypes and rock types is expanded, such a model may provide valuableinformation. In crush-for-leach operations, the particle sizedistribution may be set by adjusting the crusher setting and theparticle size distribution may be checked by size analysis of periodicbelt samples. For Run of Mine ores that are not crushed prior toleaching, size analysis may be obtained by data image analysis fromcameras on ore shovels. Such particle size distribution data may be usedin the system.

The SDR (size distribution reporting) solution enables the reporting ofsize distribution metrics for material that is being shoveled, blastedand/or mined. The SDR is often called ShovelCam, Split Cam or Frag Cam.This SDR application may be used for capturing fragmentation data at theshovel loading location. Images of the mining face may be captured bycameras mounted onboard the shovels. In various embodiments, the imagesmay be sorted and processed using Split-Online fragmentation analysissoftware to obtain the measured real-time size distribution of thematerial being loaded, and the results logged to a database. The camerasmay be used to obtain the real-time size, instead of measuring the sizeof the rocks in the field. In various embodiments, the system maydetermine mineralogy by taking the spectral analysis of a truck load.The system may determine the size of the rock to meet the P80 (80^(th)percentile). For example, the size of the rock may be 6 inches orsmaller to meet the P80. As such, the SDR may be used to identify trendsin the rock size after the blast and improve the management of the blastfragmentation practices. The system may receive the SDR data todetermine appropriate adjustments for the blasting process to meet thetarget P80. Such adjustments may include, for example, the hole spacing,hole depth, powder factor, burn, etc. The system may send signals ofthese adjustments to a blasting system that may implement future blasts.Reports feed from the EDW (enterprise data warehouse) that include a“Global Drill and Blast” database. This data may be integrated with datafrom MMS PowerView as well as CAES/Terrain.

The application rate may be the amount of the raffinate irrigated ontothe stockpile as a function of the total flow of the raffinate solutionover the total area being irrigated. The raffinate application appliedto the ore may be determined for each lift. In various embodiments, thesystem may use flow rate (acquired from skids or flow meters) and leacharea (acquired from ARC GIS) with acid concentrations (acquired fromacid addition volumes to raffinate and lab assays) to calculate how muchacid is applied to the ore. The amount of acid applied to the ore mayimpact the ore map, which may serve as a feedback loop for adjusting themine plan.

The cost of sulfuric acid used for leaching is both significant andvariable. Leach recovery may be highly dependent on exposing the ore tothe optimum amount of acid so that the copper is put into solution.However, over application of acid causes increased acid consumption bygangue minerals (gangue acid consumption), degradation of the ore, anddecreased heap permeability. Therefore, the system may incorporatemodels for raffinate application. Such models may also provide costsavings for mine (e.g., leach) operators, as the mine operators may beable to extract the maximum value for each volume of ore without wastingacid. In addition to having a specific copper mineralogy fingerprint,each individual volume of ore contains gangue minerals. The types andrelative amounts of specific gangue minerals determine the amount ofacid each block of ore may consume, in addition to the acid consumed toleach the copper minerals. Because leaching may be driven by the amountof free acid in solution, a percentage of the gangue acid consumptionmay be used to create localized conditions which promote copperleaching. In various embodiments, the system may include a model thatallows a more targeted addition of acid to the ore. A more targetedaddition of acid may be particularly feasible in the case of acidaddition to agglomeration where signals from a system (e.g., anover-the-belt analyzer) may be used to control acid addition rates toagglomeration depending on the mineralogy of the ore being treated.

The acid that is applied to the ore may be introduced as a component ofthe raffinate flow. Thus, the acid that each particle of ore sees is afunction of the acid strength of the raffinate, the flowrate of theraffinate (application rate), the days the ore is under leach, and thephysical and mineralogical characteristics of the adjacent ore particles(particularly those particles spatially above the particle in question).For example, if the ore spatially above the particle in question hasconsumed a significant portion of the free acid that was applied to theore, there may not be a sufficient driving force for leaching tocontinue. If the leach driving forces are not present throughout eachvolume of ore under leach, then the mining, haulage, and placement costsfor that volume of ore may be wasted. However, the acid should not beover-applied, or else the acid may be wasted and permeability concernsoccur.

In various embodiments, the system may include a model that estimatesthe manner in which acid bearing raffinate travels through leach ore,based on a method of estimating acid percolation via Darcy's Law.Darcy's Law may provide an indication of how far leach solutions travelthrough the pad in feet per day. The acid percolation may also bedetermined by using tracers (e.g., a material or liquid that may beadded to the acid and can be monitored or trace as it percolates theore). This system may leverage any suitable code (e.g., Python code) toestimate percolation from estimates of ore porosity, particle size (asmeasured by P80), and irrigation flows (as estimated by sensor readings)to estimate the percolation of raffinate through a leach stockpile.Darcy's law states the principle which governs the movement of fluid inthe given substance. The Darcy's law equation describes the capabilityof the liquid to flow via any porous media like a rock. Darcy's law isbased on the fact that the flow between two points is directlyproportional to the pressure differences between the points, thedistance, and the connectivity of flow within rocks between the points.Measuring the inter-connectivity is known as permeability. To understandthe mathematical aspect behind liquid flow in the substance, Darcy's lawcan be described as the relationship among the instantaneous rate ofdischarge through porous medium and pressure drop at a distance. Usingthe specific sign convention, Darcy's law is expressed as: Q=−KA dh/dl,wherein Q is the rate of water flow, K is the hydraulic conductivity, Ais the column cross-section area and dh/dl indicates a hydraulicgradient. The various Darcy's law factors may be measured withappropriate sensors. The system may use the data provided by Darcy's lawto determine, for example, if a reagent should be added to the leachstockpile to help increase the percolation and improve leaching.

Another factor for determining how much copper may be leached from aheap leaching operation is the amount of surface area that is turned on(e.g., under leach) at any one given time. There are certain timeperiods during which a given section of ore will not be under leach. Atthe beginning of the leach cycle, the ore may not be under leach whilethe ore is being placed on the leach pad by conveyor stackers or haultrucks, which is often the time that solution delivery pipes and leachlines are being laid. During the leach cycle, there may be times whenraffinate flow is turned off purposely. For example, “pulsed leaching”may be beneficial for certain copper ore mineralogies which may benefitfrom short rest periods which allow stockpile temperatures to rise. Atthe end of the leach cycle, leaching is turned off so that leach padsurface can dry out enough for people to walk on and so leach lines andpiping can be stripped from the pad. During regular leaching, there arealso times when a certain portion of the ore may not be receivingraffinate because leach lines are plugged or because there is a leak inthe raffinate distribution system.

The system may determine the ore age in the stockpile based on leachrates. Leach rates may vary throughout the leach cycle with oresleaching faster at the beginning of the cycle than at the end. Invarious embodiments, the system may track when each section was turnedon and how many days each section has been leaching. This data may beaggregated for all sections under leach to predict how much copperproduction to expect on any given day.

To analyze and diagnose the raffinate distribution problems (e.g.,plugged leach lines), pressure/flow skids may be used. In variousembodiments, the system may use pressure/flow skids to provide data onflowrates, pressure, flow, and raffinate distribution. The skids allowthe calculation of accurate irrigation rates (gpm/sq ft) for input tothe raffinate application rate feature. The system may automaticallyadjust valves placed in series with the flow skids. In variousembodiments, the system may use the data from pressure/flow skids tomeet the target leach solution application rates. Because leachsolutions may be the means by which acid is delivered to the leach pad,knowing the rate that solutions are delivered to the pad, along with theacid strength of the leach solutions, allows the system to calculate howmuch acid is applied to any volume of ore. If a line is plugged and asufficient amount of acid is not being applied to the section of ore,the system may adjust its models to compensate for this change. Thesystem may also use the skid data to validate the amount of acid thatthe system determined that the section of the stockpile may bereceiving. The system may also initiate a work order or repair order ifthe system detects that a certain area of the pad is receiving more orless acid than the pad should be receiving because leach lines havebecome plugged or are leaking.

More information about pressure/flow leach skids can be found in U.S.Ser. No. 15/539,328 filed Jun. 23, 2017, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,982,321issued May 29, 2018, and entitled “Systems And Methods For MonitoringMetal Recovery Systems”; U.S. Ser. No. 15/989,614 filed May 25, 2018,now U.S. Pat. No. 10,190,190 issued Jan. 29, 2019, and entitled “SystemsAnd Methods For Monitoring Metal Recovery Systems”. U.S. Ser. No.16/223,760 filed Dec. 18, 2018, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,975,455 issued Apr.13, 2021; and entitled “Systems And Methods For Monitoring MetalRecovery Systems”; U.S. Ser. No. 17/223,404 filed Apr. 6, 2021 andentitled “Systems And Methods For Monitoring Metal Recovery Systems”;U.S. Ser. No. 17/733,171 filed Apr. 29, 2022 and entitled “Systems AndMethods For Monitoring Metal Recovery Systems,” all of which areincorporated by reference in their entirety for all purposes.

In various embodiments, the system may include connecting thermistors(e.g., resistance-based temperature sensors) to modular and movableself-contained “skids” housing components for reading and/ortransmitting temperature data over the internet into a database (e.g.,cloud or warehouse). The thermistors may be inexpensive and/ordisposable. The skids may contain the thermistor sensors, a data logger,an edge computer, internet connectivity (cellular), solar power, andbatteries that allow for 24/7 unattended data collection. Edge computersmay run the Azure IoT Edge runtime and utilize containerizedapplications to read the temperature data at defined intervals andtransmit the data directly into a database. Collected telemetry data maybe stored within a database alongside other telemetry data where thedata may be made available in a consistent format for visualization andanalysis in tools (e.g., Power BI) and for inclusion in data sciencemodels.

Historically, side slopes may have been ignored because of the expenseof leaching the side slopes and the relatively minimal copper productionin the side slopes. However, in addition to the top surface area of thepad being leached, copper production can also be increased by leachingthe side slopes of leach pads. This may be completed with drip emitters,but increased leaching is sometimes completed by spraying raffinate ontothe side slopes with wobblers. The amount of leach area that is turnedon may be determined by surveying the leach shapes. The polygonsrepresenting the leached areas may be aggregated to determine thecombined internal area for the combination of the polygons. Because dripemitters and wobblers are expected to provide different relative amountsof raffinate to the ore, data regarding the percentage (or squarefootage) of the section, lift or stockpile that is under drip vs wobblermay also be captured and used in the models. The system may useirrigation source data by determining the percentage of wobblers beingused at the section level. The percentage of wobblers being used at eachof the section levels may be used to determine the percentage of eachraffinate application method for the whole leach stockpile.

In various embodiments, the side slope calculations may be used todetermine where the ore should be re-distributed from the pad and intoside slopes because side slopes are leached at a different time than theore on the pad. The side slope calculations provide an estimate of howmuch ore is in the side slopes and its ore characteristics. Without theside slope calculations, the contribution of the side slopes wouldeither be missed or estimated incorrectly.

Temperature is a factor in determining leach recovery as it improvesboth leach kinetics (e.g., days under leach) and ultimate copperrecovery. It has been estimated that every increase of 1 degree C.results in an average of 0.5% improved copper production. This effectdiffers for different copper mineralogies. While this copper recoveryincrease is generally beneficial, temperature increases may also lead toincreased acid consumption, ore degradation, precipitation, andresulting permeability concerns. Therefore, in various embodiments, themodel may consider the various impacts of temperature on heap leaching.The heat balance for a heap leach stockpile may account for heatentering the stockpile, heat leaving the stockpile, and heat generatedwith or accumulated in the stockpile. Depending on its temperature incomparison with the ore in the heap leach pad, raffinate can either be asource of heat or a heat sink. Raffinate that is above the temperatureof the ore can increase the temperature of the pad, while colderraffinate can cause the stockpile to cool down. The flow and temperatureof the raffinate may create a heat flux with either the potential toheat or cool the leach pad. In various embodiments, the system mayacquire flow readings from pressure/flow skids and raffinatetemperatures at feed ponds or in piping runs. Similarly, the flow andtemperature of PLS leaving the pad may be accounted for as thisrepresents a heat flux out of the system. Heat may also enter a leachpad via solar radiation at the surface of the leach pad and this heatmay be transferred some distance within the ore structure. However, heatmay also be lost from the surface of the leach pad by convectivecooling, evaporative cooling and radiation emitted from the surface. Insome cases, this heat loss can be minimized by such methods such as, forexample, covering the leach pad with plastic film or with a layer of oreor rock. Depending on the mineralogy present within the leach pad, heatcan be generated by the oxidation of minerals such as pyrite,chalcopyrite, and other sulfide ores.

The temperatures of various sections of the stockpile may be directly orindirectly measured by using thermistors (e.g., temperature probes)placed within the ore of the stockpile. Placing physical heat sensorswithin the ore may be time consuming and difficult, and retrievingmeasurements from buried sensors may be problematic. Therefore, thesystem may use a soft sensor to estimate the temperature within a leachstockpile. The temperatures of various sections (or sub-sections) of thestockpile may be estimated using a heat soft sensor model. In variousembodiments, the system may include a heat soft sensor that provides aheat soft calculation. The heat soft sensor may determine a temperatureprofile for a particular scenario of various process parameters. Theprofile may be a profile (e.g., one-dimensional profile orthree-dimensional profile) looking at the stockpile from the top downand the bottom up. The profile may not consider the impacts of the sideof the stockpile (e.g., heat transfer toward the sides of thestockpile). The system may allow the user to change any of theparameters that may result in a different temperature profile. Thetemperature profile may reflect the different temperatures at differentdepths of the lift. The temperature profile may also reflect thetemperature changes over time. The heat soft calculation may be a seriesof calculations to estimate the heat transfer at the surface(evaporation, convection, shortwave and longwave radiation exchange);estimate the heat transfer within the stockpile (advection of raffinatemoving down through the stockpile and advection of air within thestockpile); and estimate the heat generation within the interior of thestockpile due to exothermic chemical reactions (ex.: oxidation of pyriteand sulfide ores). This is estimated based on the percentage of pyrite,the percentage of ore minerals and an assumed oxygen utilization rate,but these assumptions may be adjusted as the system learns more from themodeling and feedback. The heat soft calculation may be coded in anysuitable code (e.g., Python code) in order to offer section-levelestimates of internal stockpile temperature. The system may modify theprocess parameters based on trend data of the heat profile. For example,if the heat profile trends indicate that the system is flushingtemperature down out of the stockpile, then in response, the system mayreduce the raffinate application rate which could help to retain thetemperature of the stockpile.

More particularly, in various embodiments, the process parameters mayinclude, for example, type of film (e.g., Mantos thermal film or othertype of film or cover), timeframe, total depth of the lift, raffinateapplication flowrate (e.g., flowrate per unit area of the raffinate onthe surface of the stockpile), raffinate temperature (e.g., for overallheat balance), air application rate (e.g., flow rate of air beinginjected per unit area and measured at the base of the newest lift,wherein the air works its way up through the stockpile and exits fromthe surface), air wet bulb temperature (e.g., of the air injected intothe stockpile as it tends toward 100% humidity within the stockpile),evaporation percentage (e.g., of the raffinate flow rate going in at thesurface), shortwave infrared radiation absorptivity (e.g., incomingsolar radiation that is reflected out and absorbed at the surface),longwave absorbed infrared radiation emissivity, longwave out radiationemissivity, exotherm heat generation (e.g., rate of energy, oxidation,etc), heat transfer by convection at the surface (e.g., heat lossdirectly to the air or heat loss through a thermal film cover) andaverage temperature at the end of the timeframe. The film may includeany clear film, colored film and/or coated film. The film may include alayer of insulating material which may be ore, crushed rock and/oranother crushed substance.

In various embodiments, the process generally includes the systemsplitting the stockpile sections into a series of vertical layers (e.g.,each 3 feet tall). For each layer, the system may calculate severalvalues such as, for example, net radiation and convection for the toplayer (e.g., including estimated effects of pile covers), transmissionof the heat to lower layers, quantity of reagents available foroxidation of pyrite and/or chalcopyrite, amount of pyrite and/orchalcopyrite oxidized, heat created by thet oxidation and thetransmission of the heat through the stockpile, cooling and/or heatingfrom raffinate and from the raffinate transmission through thestockpile. The initial result may include a daily temperature (e.g., forevery 3 feet of the top lift). The system may roll this up as a mean ormedian for the whole lift, or use the temperature at a particular depth.The may utilize the Stefan-Boltzman law, wherein the total intensityradiated over all wavelengths increases as the temperature increases.

In various embodiments, the inputs to the heat soft sensor model mayinclude, for example, amount of pyrite per weight of ore to be leached;amount of chalcopyrite per weight of ore to be leached; weather (e.g.,temperature); section date; raffinate flow; total area on; raffinateacid concentration; average temperature; soil temperature; layer height;total depth of lift; ore density; heat capacity of the soil; heatcapacity of the soil; leach cycle days (e.g., total number of irrigationdays); starting temp of ore; ore heat transfer coefficient; rate of airintroduction; air temperature; raffinate temperature; heat capacity ofraffinate; raffinate utilization (e.g., a percent of raffinate that caninteract with the ore); feet per degree; number of cover layers;absorption of solar energy for ore or covers; convective gain and loss(e.g., heat flux which is equal to the heat transfer coefficientmultiplied by the difference in temperature between a surface and thesurroundings); air emissivity; soil emissivity; albedo (e.g., ratio ofreflected solar radiation to incoming solar radiation); pyrite oxidationrate (e.g., a function that can be modified according to lab work);pyrite heat of oxidation reaction; chalcopyrite oxidation rate (e.g., afunction that can be modified according to lab work).

In various embodiments, the heat soft sensor model may use the input inthe following exemplary ways. The system may cumulate the amounts ofpyrite and chalcopyrite for each modeled section of a leach stockpile.The system may also accumulate weather data for the timeframe beingmodeled. The system may average the ambient temperature over thetimeframe being modeled. The system may also average the soiltemperature over the timeframe being modeled.

In various embodiments, the system may incorporate various calculationsthat can be iterated from one layer to another layer in the heap and/orused in finite element fluid dynamic modeling. The calculations mayinclude one or more of the following. Application rate=Section raffinateflow/total area with flow turned on; Temperature of additionallayer=layer height/feet per degree; Available oxygen calculated fromrate of air blown into the stockpile per time; Available acid calculatedfrom the raffinate application rate and acid concentration of theraffinate; Net radiation=ground heat flux+latent heat flux+sensible heatflux; Net Radiation for an ore layer over a period of time=(netradiation*time)/(layer height*ore density)/ore heat capacity;Convection=convection heat transfer coefficient taking heap covers intoconsideration*temperature difference; Convection for a top ore layerover a period of time=(convection coefficient taking heap covers intoconsideration*time)/(layer height*ore density)/ore heat capacity; Ifmore pyrite is present than the amount of oxygen needed to oxidize it,then the system may determine that oxygen is limited; If more oxygen isavailable than pyrite to be oxidized, then the system may determine thatpyrite is limited; If days under leach is less than the time for totalpyrite oxidation, then the system may determine that time is limited;Amount of pyrite oxidized=f(minimum of oxygen amount, pyrite amount,days under leach); Temperature gain due to pyrite oxidation=(pyrite heatof reaction*amount of pyrite present)/(layer height*oredensity)/specific heat of ore; If amount of acid available is less thatthe chalcopyrite to be oxidized, the system may determine that thereaction is acid limited; If the amount of chalcopyrite is less than theacid available, the system may determine that the reaction ischalcopyrite limited; If the days under leach is less than the time forchalcopyrite passivation, the system may determine that the reaction istime limited; Amount of chalcopyrite oxidized=f(amount of acidavailable, amount of chalcopyrite available, chalcopyrite oxidationrate); Temperature gain due to chalcopyrite oxidation=(chalcopyrite heatof reaction*amount of chalcopyrite present)/(layer height*oredensity)/specific heat of ore; Raffinate final temp=f(ore heat transfercoefficient, time, raffinate flow rate, heat capacity of raffinate,current raffinate temperature difference with raffinate in adjacentlayers); Raffinate heat flux=(raffinate flow rate*heat capacity ofraffinate)*(raffinate final temp−current raffinate temp); and/orTemperature change from raffinate=raffinate heat flux/(layer height*oredensity)/heat capacity of ore.

Copper leaching typically occurs when chemical and physical drivingforces are present. The system may receive inputs about the contributionof additives to leach recovery. In various embodiments, the ore may besufficiently wetted that lixiviants can contact the mineral surfaces.This wetting is completed by aqueous solutions which may contain acombination of water, reclaimed water, raffinate from solvent extractionplants, sulfuric acid, and ILS (Intermediate leach solution). ILS maycomprise mixtures of low grade PLS solutions which are being recycled toleaching in order to satisfy water balances. ILS is often enriched withsulfuric acid. Oxides and simple carbonate minerals may be leachedsimply by contact with low pH solutions containing sulfuric acid. Coppermay be leached in response to the solution pH being low enough directlyat the mineral surface. However, competing acid consuming reactions fromadjacent gangue minerals may drive pH up to the point where aninsufficient or ineffective chemical driving force is present and copperleach recovery may suffer. Sulfide minerals may be more complicated toleach and include the use of not only low pH, but elevated oxidationpotential in order to leach. Achieving an elevated pH (ORP—oxidationreduction potential) may include the presence of an oxidant in solution.Traditionally, this consists of ferric iron which is generated by theaeration of solutions or the presence of native iron oxidizing bacteria(bioleaching). When iron is present in solution, the pH should be belowabout 3 directly at the mineral surfaces. If pH is allowed to increasebecause of the presence of acid consuming minerals, iron may precipitateout of solution as a sticky jarosite that can coat and passivate mineralsurfaces. Alternate oxidants include halide ions such as the chloridecontained in brine or solid salt, chemical oxidants, air or oxygen whichmay be introduced by enhancing the dissolved oxygen in solution or bythe addition of stable microbubbles to leach solutions. When mineralsurfaces passivate by the formation of elemental or polysulfide layers,additives may be used to alleviate this passivation. For example, thepresence of silver ions in solution may restrict the formation ofpassivating layers on the chalcopyrite mineral surface. Another class ofadditives (added as solid particles) enhances galvanic leach reactionsand causes corrosion and dissolution at the copper mineral surfaces.Pyrite particles may set up such galvanic reactions. Additionally, theoxidation of pyrite may provide a heat source which increases thetemperature of the leach stockpile.

The ore finder may be the user interface for the ore map, and the orefinder may allow a user to determine which sections of the stockpilestill have remaining copper. As such, based on the ore finder showingsections with residual copper, the system may instruct other componentsor machines to perform deep raffinate injection to target leachsolutions with enhanced chemistry to areas of the leach pad with theresidual copper found with the ore finder. To accomplish this, thesystem may instruct the machines to drill holes at a depth to targetunleached ore. Leach solution chemistry may be tailored to themineralogy of the residual copper and leach solutions may be pumpedunder pressure into the deep raffinate well. For example, raffinatesolutions may be enhanced with sulfuric acid and/or another acid, ferricions and/or another oxidant, air bubbles, oxygen bubbles, heat, microbesor any other beneficial additive.

Various other data obtained from engineering features may be used by thesystem. Blower data may include the ambient temperature plus thetemperature change with the blowers on. In various embodiments, thetemperature change may be derived from the exit temperature out of theblower that is detected by a sensor on the blower. The blower data mayalso include status data about the blowers being on or off. In variousembodiments, the status data may also be inferred from an additionalthermocouple reading, wherein if the temperature difference between theambient temperature and the exit temperature is above a threshold, thenthe system presumes that the blower is on. On average, the air exitingthe blowers and entering the leach stockpile may be about 25 degrees F.hotter than the ambient air. The hotter blower air increases the heat toleaching overall and acts as a heat source to the leach stockpile.

In various embodiments, the irrigation data may include an “area on”calculation that may be used to determine the share of area of astockpile being irrigated. Mapping to create a polygon map may becompleted by Arc GIS. However, in some cases, the polygons overlap whichmay cause certain areas of the pad to be counted twice. In variousembodiments, the polygon map may correct for the double counting andcreate unique shapes of the overlap portion for which the orecharacteristics are known. The system may determine the leach history ofeach unique shape by estimating the copper which may be remaining in theshape. This remaining copper estimate data is used in the ore map. Theore map may keep track of the location of potential residual copperwhich may be recovered at some point by targeted methods (e.g., deepraffinate injection).

In various embodiments, the system may determine the Ferrous/Ferricratio by using the lab data for total iron and ferrous iron andsubtracting to get ferric iron as a concentration in solution. Theferric iron concentration may be combined with flowrate data to obtainthe rate of ferric iron applied to the ore. The iron ion ratio may bedirectly proportional to ORP (a leach variable).

In various embodiments, the system may clean the data using, forexample, a set of logical rules. Some logical rules may be based on, forexample, statistical outlier calculations or “known logical ranges”. Thesystem may also use data interpolation to fill in missing data.

The system may determine (or receive input about) a target amount ofdaily copper production to obtain from the stockpile. The target may bederived from the predictive model. In various embodiments, the systemmay determine copper production by comparing flow and grade. The dailycopper production may be calculated using daily measurements of flow andcopper grade. PLS and raffinate flow are measured in gallons per minuteby flow meters. PLS and raffinate copper grade are measured in grams perliter by daily assays. Stockpile production may be calculated bymultiplying PLS flow by PLS copper and subtracting the same calculationin the raffinate. The raffinate values are subtracted to avoid doublecounting copper that was not extracted from the PLS. These four metricsmay be observed periodically (e.g., daily) at sumps dedicated to eachstockpile, allowing for the periodic calculation of stockpileproduction.

The system may also obtain data from various tools. In variousembodiments, the Mine Material Tracking (MMT) tool may receive data fromHPGPS load points, mine data (e.g., from a MineSight system) and/ordispatch data. The HPGPS load points may include Terrain or Provision,along with the HPGPS Loading System that includes dig points. The minesystem (e.g., MineSight) may include mine planning software thatincludes block model files. The dispatch data may include data from aMine Fleet Management System (FMS) that provides haulage cycle dataand/or beacon data. In various embodiments, the MMT tool may link theblock model (to get material characteristics) to individual truck loads.The linking may be implemented by interpolating points in the blockmodel because the data from the drill holes may be separated by asufficient distance (e.g., over 150 feet), so the data from between theholes may need to be interpolated. For example, a first drill hole mayinclude 0.2 copper and a second drill hole may include 0.6 copper, sothe system may interpolate the 0.2 amount of copper from the first drillhole up to the 0.6 amount of copper at the second drill hole. Becausethe drill hole points may have moved after the blast, the system mayassign the altered drill hole points to the appropriate physicalgeographic location post-blast. The system may also merge informationfrom the dispatch tool (the mine fleet management system to gettruckload info), CAES and truck sensor data on both haul trucks andshovels (e.g., using ProVision and the GPS coordinates of equipment).The system may then instruct the shovel to take ore from a particulararea of the section based on the data indicating where more productiveore and less productive ore may be located.

The MMT tool may allow ore to be tracked from blast to dump atindividual truckload locations. The MMT tool may collect and aggregateore characteristics information at a truckload-by-truckload level. Thetool may allow for downstream processes to leverage the block modelgeologic information, a highly targeted understanding of ore deliveriesand locations, and reconciliation of dispatch information with physicalprocesses. The tool may be used for productivity reporting, recoverymodeling and other analyses. The MMT tool may also provide datamanagement and data integration functionality to allow mine engineers toreview and control the final data output. The MMT tool may provide theusers with a much more granular and useful dataset than what may bepossible with using only fleet management system data. The MMT tool mayintegrate with the block model data to provide real-time tracking (e.g.,past 24 hours percent TCu deliveries) and improved process modeling andanalysis (e.g., past 24 hours percent TClay deliveries).

In various embodiments, the MMT may include SDR (size distributionreporting) to help in obtaining particle size distribution information(e.g., P80) from capturing images of truck loads. The MMT tool maymeasure SDR data and the SDR data may serve as a predictive variablethat contributes to the estimation of stockpile-level copper productionvia an observational machine learning model.

TROI may be a predictive digital twin model that may use the MMT tool togive real time information about what is going into the crushers, themine may use the MMT tool to reconcile the geology, and the leachingsystem may use the MMT tool in the leach analytics.

In various embodiments, the heap concept may include raffinate flow, airand temperature sensors used with the model to make adjustments foroptimization. The heap concept may focus on recovery by section/area.The heap concept may maximize as a whole and/or optimize by section. Thepowerful functionality that leach analytics may provide goes beyondcollecting data from various sources into one overarching database.Leach analytics may provide a means for physically understanding howcontrollable variables impact leach recovery. Going further, leachanalytics may provide a means for quantifying complex variableinteractions and their collective impact on leach recovery. Therefore,this complete analysis provides the basis of a control strategy suchthat variables may be changed to optimize an outcome. These changes maybe tested manually and then incorporated into interacting automatedcontrol systems.

In various embodiments, the mine planning feature may includeintegration of leaching analytics to mine planning software. The systemmay make assumptions about the mine production, then create the mineplan. If the system provides assumptions that are more data driven, thenthe mine plan may be more accurate, economical and productive.

In various embodiments, the system may incorporate drone data or controldrones. The drones may survey the stockpile to determine the conditionof the stockpile, analyze the stockpile geometry, determine the parts ofthe stockpile that are being leached, obtain measurements (e.g., heatmeasurements) and/or transmit that data back to the system.

As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, the systemmay be embodied as a customization of an existing system, an add-onproduct, a processing apparatus executing upgraded software, astand-alone system, a distributed system, a method, a data processingsystem, a device for data processing, and/or a computer program product.Accordingly, any portion of the system or a module may take the form ofa processing apparatus executing code, an internet-based embodiment, anentirely hardware embodiment, or an embodiment combining aspects of theinternet, software, and hardware. Furthermore, the system may take theform of a computer program product on a computer-readable storage mediumhaving computer-readable program code means embodied in the storagemedium.

The system and method may be described herein in terms of functionalblock components, screen shots, optional selections, and variousprocessing steps. It should be appreciated that such functional blocksmay be realized by any number of hardware and/or software componentsconfigured to perform the specified functions. For example, the systemmay employ various integrated circuit components, e.g., memory elements,processing elements, logic elements, lookup tables, and the like, whichmay carry out a variety of functions under the control of one or moremicroprocessors or other control devices. Similarly, the softwareelements of the system may be implemented with any programming orscripting language such as C, C++, C #, JAVA®, JAVASCRIPT®, JAVASCRIPT®Object Notation (JSON), VBScript, Macromedia COLD FUSION, COBOL,MICROSOFT® company's Active Server Pages, assembly, PERL®, PHP, awk,PYTHON®, Visual Basic, SQL Stored Procedures, PL/SQL, any UNIX® shellscript, and extensible markup language (XML) with the various algorithmsbeing implemented with any combination of data structures, objects,processes, routines or other programming elements. Further, it should benoted that the system may employ any number of conventional techniquesfor data transmission, signaling, data processing, network control, andthe like. Still further, the system could be used to detect or preventsecurity issues with a client-side scripting language, such asJAVASCRIPT®, VBScript, or the like.

In various embodiments, the software elements of the system may also beimplemented using a JAVASCRIPT® run-time environment configured toexecute JAVASCRIPT® code outside of a web browser. For example, thesoftware elements of the system may also be implemented using NODE.JS xcomponents. NODE.JS x programs may implement several modules to handlevarious core functionalities. For example, a package management module,such as NPM®, may be implemented as an open source library to aid inorganizing the installation and management of third-party NODE.JS®programs. NODE.JS® programs may also implement a process manager, suchas, for example, Parallel Multithreaded Machine (“PM2”); a resource andperformance monitoring tool, such as, for example, Node ApplicationMetrics (“appmetrics”); a library module for building user interfaces,and/or any other suitable and/or desired module.

Middleware may include any hardware and/or software suitably configuredto facilitate communications and/or process transactions betweendisparate computing systems. Middleware components are commerciallyavailable and known in the art. Middleware may be implemented throughcommercially available hardware and/or software, through custom hardwareand/or software components, or through a combination thereof. Middlewaremay reside in a variety of configurations and may exist as a standalonesystem or may be a software component residing on the internet server.Middleware may be configured to process transactions between the variouscomponents of an application server and any number of internal orexternal systems for any of the purposes disclosed herein. WEB SPHERE®MQTM (formerly MQSeries) by IBM®, Inc. (Armonk, NY) is an example of acommercially available middleware product. An Enterprise Service Bus(“ESB”) application is another example of middleware.

The computers discussed herein may provide a suitable website or otherinternet-based graphical user interface which is accessible by users. Inone embodiment, MICROSOFT® company's Internet Information Services(IIS), Transaction Server (MTS) service, and an SQL SERVER® database,are used in conjunction with MICROSOFT® operating systems, WINDOWS NT®web server software, SQL SERVER® database, and MICROSOFT® CommerceServer. Additionally, components such as ACCESS® software, SQL SERVER®database, ORACLE® software, SYBASE® software, INFORMIX® software, MYSQL®software, INTERBASE® software, etc., may be used to provide an ActiveData Object (ADO) compliant database management system. In oneembodiment, the APACHE® web server is used in conjunction with a LINUX®operating system, a MYSQL® database, and PERL®, PHP, Ruby, and/orPYTHON® programming languages.

For the sake of brevity, conventional data networking, applicationdevelopment, and other functional aspects of the systems (and componentsof the individual operating components of the systems) may not bedescribed in detail herein. Furthermore, the connecting lines shown inthe various figures contained herein are intended to represent exemplaryfunctional relationships and/or physical couplings between the variouselements. It should be noted that many alternative or additionalfunctional relationships or physical connections may be present in apractical system.

In various embodiments, the system and various components may integratewith one or more smart digital assistant technologies. For example,exemplary smart digital assistant technologies may include the ALEXA®system developed by the AMAZON® company, the GOOGLE HOME® systemdeveloped by Alphabet, Inc., the HOMEPOD® system of the APPLE® company,and/or similar digital assistant technologies.

The various system components discussed herein may include one or moreof the following: a host server or other computing systems including aprocessor for processing digital data; a memory coupled to the processorfor storing digital data; an input digitizer coupled to the processorfor inputting digital data; an application program stored in the memoryand accessible by the processor for directing processing of digital databy the processor; a display device coupled to the processor and memoryfor displaying information derived from digital data processed by theprocessor; and a plurality of databases. Various databases used hereinmay include: client data; merchant data; financial institution data;and/or like data useful in the operation of the system. As those skilledin the art will appreciate, user computer may include an operatingsystem (e.g., WINDOWS®, UNIX®, LINUX®, SOLARIS®, MACOS®, etc.) as wellas various conventional support software and drivers typicallyassociated with computers.

The present system or any part(s) or function(s) thereof may beimplemented using hardware, software, or a combination thereof and maybe implemented in one or more computer systems or other processingsystems. However, the manipulations performed by embodiments may bereferred to in terms, such as matching or selecting, which are commonlyassociated with mental operations performed by a human operator. No suchcapability of a human operator is necessary, or desirable, in mostcases, in any of the operations described herein. Rather, the operationsmay be machine operations or any of the operations may be conducted orenhanced by artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning. AI mayrefer generally to the study of agents (e.g., machines, computer-basedsystems, etc.) that perceive the world around them, form plans, and makedecisions to achieve their goals. Foundations of AI include mathematics,logic, philosophy, probability, linguistics, neuroscience, and decisiontheory. Many fields fall under the umbrella of AI, such as computervision, robotics, machine learning, and natural language processing.Useful machines for performing the various embodiments include generalpurpose digital computers or similar devices. The AI or ML may storedata in a decision tree in a novel way.

In various embodiments, the embodiments are directed toward one or morecomputer systems capable of carrying out the functionalities describedherein. The computer system includes one or more processors. Theprocessor is connected to a communication infrastructure (e.g., acommunications bus, cross-over bar, network, etc.). Various softwareembodiments are described in terms of this exemplary computer system.After reading this description, it will become apparent to a personskilled in the relevant art(s) how to implement various embodimentsusing other computer systems and/or architectures. The computer systemcan include a display interface that forwards graphics, text, and otherdata from the communication infrastructure (or from a frame buffer notshown) for display on a display unit.

The computer system also includes a main memory, such as random accessmemory (RAM), and may also include a secondary memory. The secondarymemory may include, for example, a hard disk drive, a solid-state drive,and/or a removable storage drive. The removable storage drive reads fromand/or writes to a removable storage unit in a well-known manner. Aswill be appreciated, the removable storage unit includes a computerusable storage medium having stored therein computer software and/ordata.

In various embodiments, secondary memory may include other similardevices for allowing computer programs or other instructions to beloaded into a computer system. Such devices may include, for example, aremovable storage unit and an interface. Examples of such may include aprogram cartridge and cartridge interface (such as that found in videogame devices), a removable memory chip (such as an erasable programmableread only memory (EPROM), programmable read only memory (PROM)) andassociated socket, or other removable storage units and interfaces,which allow software and data to be transferred from the removablestorage unit to a computer system.

In various embodiments, the server may include application servers(e.g., WEB SPHERE®, WEBLOGIC®, JBOSS®, POSTGRES PLUS ADVANCED SERVER®,etc.). In various embodiments, the server may include web servers (e.g.,Apache, IIS, GOOGLE® Web Server, SUN JAVA® System Web Server, JAVA®Virtual Machine running on LINUX® or WINDOWS® operating systems).

A web client includes any device or software which communicates via anynetwork, such as, for example any device or software discussed herein.The web client may include internet browsing software installed within acomputing unit or system to conduct online transactions and/orcommunications. These computing units or systems may take the form of acomputer or set of computers, although other types of computing units orsystems may be used, including personal computers, laptops, notebooks,tablets, smart phones, cellular phones, personal digital assistants,servers, pooled servers, mainframe computers, distributed computingclusters, kiosks, terminals, point of sale (POS) devices or terminals,televisions, or any other device capable of receiving data over anetwork. The web client may include an operating system (e.g., WINDOWS®,WINDOWS MOBILE® operating systems, UNIX® operating system, LINUX®operating systems, APPLE® OS® operating systems, etc.) as well asvarious conventional support software and drivers typically associatedwith computers. The web-client may also run MICROSOFT® INTERNETEXPLORER® software, MOZILLA® FIREFOX® software, GOOGLE CHROME™ software,APPLE® SAFARI® software, or any other of the myriad software packagesavailable for browsing the internet.

As those skilled in the art will appreciate, the web client may or maynot be in direct contact with the server (e.g., application server, webserver, etc., as discussed herein). For example, the web client mayaccess the services of the server through another server and/or hardwarecomponent, which may have a direct or indirect connection to an internetserver. For example, the web client may communicate with the server viaa load balancer. In various embodiments, web client access is through anetwork or the internet through a commercially-available web-browsersoftware package. In that regard, the web client may be in a home orbusiness environment with access to the network or the internet. The webclient may implement security protocols such as Secure Sockets Layer(SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS). A web client may implementseveral application layer protocols including HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, andSFTP.

The various system components may be independently, separately, orcollectively suitably coupled to the network via data links whichincludes, for example, a connection to an Internet Service Provider(ISP) over the local loop as is typically used in connection withstandard modem communication, cable modem, DISH NETWORK®, ISDN, DigitalSubscriber Line (DSL), or various wireless communication methods. It isnoted that the network may be implemented as other types of networks,such as an interactive television (ITV) network. Moreover, the systemcontemplates the use, sale, or distribution of any goods, services, orinformation over any network having similar functionality describedherein.

The system contemplates uses in association with web services, utilitycomputing, pervasive and individualized computing, security and identitysolutions, autonomic computing, cloud computing, commodity computing,mobility and wireless solutions, open source, biometrics, gridcomputing, and/or mesh computing.

Any of the communications, inputs, storage, databases or displaysdiscussed herein may be facilitated through a website having web pages.The term “web page” as it is used herein is not meant to limit the typeof documents and applications that might be used to interact with theuser. For example, a typical website might include, in addition tostandard HTML documents, various forms, JAVA® applets, JAVASCRIPT®programs, active server pages (ASP), common gateway interface scripts(CGI), extensible markup language (XML), dynamic HTML, cascading stylesheets (CSS), AJAX (Asynchronous JAVASCRIPT And XML) programs, helperapplications, plug-ins, and the like. A server may include a web servicethat receives a request from a web server, the request including a URLand an IP address (192.168.1.1). The web server retrieves theappropriate web pages and sends the data or applications for the webpages to the IP address. Web services are applications that are capableof interacting with other applications over a communications means, suchas the internet. Web services are typically based on standards orprotocols such as XML, SOAP, AJAX, WSDL and UDDI. Web services methodsare well known in the art, and are covered in many standard texts. Forexample, representational state transfer (REST), or RESTful, webservices may provide one way of enabling interoperability betweenapplications.

Any databases discussed herein may include relational, hierarchical,graphical, blockchain, object-oriented structure, and/or any otherdatabase configurations. Any database may also include a flat filestructure wherein data may be stored in a single file in the form ofrows and columns, with no structure for indexing and no structuralrelationships between records. For example, a flat file structure mayinclude a delimited text file, a CSV (comma-separated values) file,and/or any other suitable flat file structure. Common database productsthat may be used to implement the databases include DB2® by IBM®(Armonk, NY), various database products available from ORACLE®Corporation (Redwood Shores, CA), MICROSOFT ACCESS® or MICROSOFT SQLSERVER® by MICROSOFT® Corporation (Redmond, Washington), MYSQL® by MySQLAB (Uppsala, Sweden), MONGODB®, Redis, APACHE CASSANDRA®, HBASE® byAPACHE®, MapR-DB by the MAPR® corporation, or any other suitabledatabase product. Moreover, any database may be organized in anysuitable manner, for example, as data tables or lookup tables. Eachrecord may be a single file, a series of files, a linked series of datafields, or any other data structure.

As used herein, big data may refer to partially or fully structured,semi-structured, or unstructured data sets including millions of rowsand hundreds of thousands of columns. A big data set may be compiled,for example, from a history of purchase transactions over time, from webregistrations, from social media, from records of charge (ROC), fromsummaries of charges (SOC), from internal data, or from other suitablesources. Big data sets may be compiled without descriptive metadata suchas column types, counts, percentiles, or other interpretive-aid datapoints.

Association of certain data may be accomplished through any desired dataassociation technique such as those known or practiced in the art. Forexample, the association may be accomplished either manually orautomatically. Automatic association techniques may include, forexample, a database search, a database merge, GREP, AGREP, SQL, using akey field in the tables to speed searches, sequential searches throughall the tables and files, sorting records in the file according to aknown order to simplify lookup, and/or the like. The association stepmay be accomplished by a database merge function, for example, using a“key field” in pre-selected databases or data sectors. Various databasetuning steps are contemplated to optimize database performance. Forexample, frequently used files such as indexes may be placed on separatefile systems to reduce In/Out (“I/O”) bottlenecks.

More particularly, a “key field” partitions the database according tothe high-level class of objects defined by the key field. For example,certain types of data may be designated as a key field in a plurality ofrelated data tables and the data tables may then be linked on the basisof the type of data in the key field. The data corresponding to the keyfield in each of the linked data tables is preferably the same or of thesame type. However, data tables having similar, though not identical,data in the key fields may also be linked by using AGREP, for example.In accordance with one embodiment, any suitable data storage techniquemay be utilized to store data without a standard format. Data sets maybe stored using any suitable technique, including, for example, storingindividual files using an ISO/IEC 7816-4 file structure; implementing adomain whereby a dedicated file is selected that exposes one or moreelementary files containing one or more data sets; using data setsstored in individual files using a hierarchical filing system; data setsstored as records in a single file (including compression, SQLaccessible, hashed via one or more keys, numeric, alphabetical by firsttuple, etc.); data stored as Binary Large Object (BLOB); data stored asungrouped data elements encoded using ISO/IEC 7816-6 data elements; datastored as ungrouped data elements encoded using ISO/IEC Abstract SyntaxNotation (ASN.1) as in ISO/IEC 8824 and 8825; other proprietarytechniques that may include fractal compression methods, imagecompression methods, etc.

In various embodiments, the ability to store a wide variety ofinformation in different formats is facilitated by storing theinformation as a BLOB. Thus, any binary information can be stored in astorage space associated with a data set. As discussed above, the binaryinformation may be stored in association with the system or external tobut affiliated with the system. The BLOB method may store data sets asungrouped data elements formatted as a block of binary via a fixedmemory offset using either fixed storage allocation, circular queuetechniques, or best practices with respect to memory management (e.g.,paged memory, least recently used, etc.). By using BLOB methods, theability to store various data sets that have different formatsfacilitates the storage of data, in the database or associated with thesystem, by multiple and unrelated owners of the data sets. For example,a first data set which may be stored may be provided by a first party, asecond data set which may be stored may be provided by an unrelatedsecond party, and yet a third data set which may be stored may beprovided by a third party unrelated to the first and second party. Eachof these three exemplary data sets may contain different informationthat is stored using different data storage formats and/or techniques.Further, each data set may contain subsets of data that also may bedistinct from other subsets.

As stated above, in various embodiments, the data can be stored withoutregard to a common format. However, the data set (e.g., BLOB) may beannotated in a standard manner when provided for manipulating the datain the database or system. The annotation may comprise a short header,trailer, or other appropriate indicator related to each data set that isconfigured to convey information useful in managing the various datasets. For example, the annotation may be called a “condition header,”“header,” “trailer,” or “status,” herein, and may comprise an indicationof the status of the data set or may include an identifier correlated toa specific issuer or owner of the data. In one example, the first threebytes of each data set BLOB may be configured or configurable toindicate the status of that particular data set; e.g., LOADED,INITIALIZED, READY, BLOCKED, REMOVABLE, or DELETED. Subsequent bytes ofdata may be used to indicate for example, the identity of the issuer,user, transaction/membership account identifier or the like. Each ofthese condition annotations are further discussed herein.

The data set annotation may also be used for other types of statusinformation as well as various other purposes. For example, the data setannotation may include security information establishing access levels.The access levels may, for example, be configured to permit only certainindividuals, levels of employees, companies, or other entities to accessdata sets, or to permit access to specific data sets based on thetransaction, merchant, issuer, user, or the like. Furthermore, thesecurity information may restrict/permit only certain actions, such asaccessing, modifying, and/or deleting data sets. In one example, thedata set annotation indicates that only the data set owner or the userare permitted to delete a data set, various identified users may bepermitted to access the data set for reading, and others are altogetherexcluded from accessing the data set. However, other access restrictionparameters may also be used allowing various entities to access a dataset with various permission levels as appropriate.

The data, including the header or trailer, may be received by astandalone interaction device configured to add, delete, modify, oraugment the data in accordance with the header or trailer. As such, inone embodiment, the header or trailer is not stored on the transactiondevice along with the associated issuer-owned data, but instead theappropriate action may be taken by providing to the user, at thestandalone device, the appropriate option for the action to be taken.The system may contemplate a data storage arrangement wherein the headeror trailer, or header or trailer history, of the data is stored on thesystem, device or transaction instrument in relation to the appropriatedata.

One skilled in the art will also appreciate that, for security reasons,any databases, systems, devices, servers, or other components of thesystem may consist of any combination thereof at a single location or atmultiple locations, wherein each database or system includes any ofvarious suitable security features, such as firewalls, access codes,encryption, decryption, compression, decompression, and/or the like.

Practitioners will also appreciate that there are a number of methodsfor displaying data within a browser-based document. Data may berepresented as standard text or within a fixed list, scrollable list,drop-down list, editable text field, fixed text field, pop-up window,and the like. Likewise, there are a number of methods available formodifying data in a web page such as, for example, free text entry usinga keyboard, selection of menu items, check boxes, option boxes, and thelike.

The data may be big data that is processed by a distributed computingcluster. The distributed computing cluster may be, for example, aHADOOP® software cluster configured to process and store big data setswith some of nodes comprising a distributed storage system and some ofnodes comprising a distributed processing system. In that regard,distributed computing cluster may be configured to support a HADOOP®software distributed file system (HDFS) as specified by the ApacheSoftware Foundation at www.hadoop.apache.org/docs.

As used herein, the term “network” includes any cloud, cloud computingsystem, or electronic communications system or method which incorporateshardware and/or software components. Communication among the parties maybe accomplished through any suitable communication channels, such as,for example, a telephone network, an extranet, an intranet, internet,point of interaction device (point of sale device, personal digitalassistant (e.g., an IPHONE® device, a BLACKBERRY® device), cellularphone, kiosk, etc.), online communications, satellite communications,off-line communications, wireless communications, transpondercommunications, local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN),virtual private network (VPN), networked or linked devices, keyboard,mouse, and/or any suitable communication or data input modality.Moreover, although the system is frequently described herein as beingimplemented with TCP/IP communications protocols, the system may also beimplemented using IPX, APPLETALK® program, IP-6, NetBIOS, OSI, anytunneling protocol (e.g. IPsec, SSH, etc.), or any number of existing orfuture protocols. If the network is in the nature of a public network,such as the internet, it may be advantageous to presume the network tobe insecure and open to eavesdroppers. Specific information related tothe protocols, standards, and application software utilized inconnection with the internet is generally known to those skilled in theart and, as such, need not be detailed herein.

“Cloud” or “Cloud computing” includes a model for enabling convenient,on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computingresources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services)that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal managementeffort or service provider interaction. Cloud computing may includelocation-independent computing, whereby shared servers provideresources, software, and data to computers and other devices on demand.

As used herein, “transmit” may include sending electronic data from onesystem component to another over a network connection. Additionally, asused herein, “data” may include encompassing information such ascommands, queries, files, data for storage, and the like in digital orany other form.

Any database discussed herein may comprise a distributed ledgermaintained by a plurality of computing devices (e.g., nodes) over apeer-to-peer network. Each computing device maintains a copy and/orpartial copy of the distributed ledger and communicates with one or moreother computing devices in the network to validate and write data to thedistributed ledger. The distributed ledger may use features andfunctionality of blockchain technology, including, for example,consensus-based validation, immutability, and cryptographically chainedblocks of data. The blockchain may comprise a ledger of interconnectedblocks containing data. The blockchain may provide enhanced securitybecause each block may hold individual transactions and the results ofany blockchain executables. Each block may link to the previous blockand may include a timestamp. Blocks may be linked because each block mayinclude the hash of the prior block in the blockchain. The linked blocksform a chain, with only one successor block allowed to link to one otherpredecessor block for a single chain. Forks may be possible wheredivergent chains are established from a previously uniform blockchain,though typically only one of the divergent chains will be maintained asthe consensus chain. In various embodiments, the blockchain mayimplement smart contracts that enforce data workflows in a decentralizedmanner. The system may also include applications deployed on userdevices such as, for example, computers, tablets, smartphones, Internetof Things devices (“IoT” devices), etc. The applications may communicatewith the blockchain (e.g., directly or via a blockchain node) totransmit and retrieve data. In various embodiments, a governingorganization or consortium may control access to data stored on theblockchain. Registration with the managing organization(s) may enableparticipation in the blockchain network.

Data transfers performed through the blockchain-based system maypropagate to the connected peers within the blockchain network within aduration that may be determined by the block creation time of thespecific blockchain technology implemented. For example, on anETHEREUM®-based network, a new data entry may become available withinabout 13-20 seconds as of the writing. On a HYPERLEDGERx Fabric 1.0based platform, the duration is driven by the specific consensusalgorithm that is chosen, and may be performed within seconds. In thatrespect, propagation times in the system may be improved compared toexisting systems, and implementation costs and time to market may alsobe drastically reduced. The system also offers increased security atleast partially due to the immutable nature of data that is stored inthe blockchain, reducing the probability of tampering with various datainputs and outputs. Moreover, the system may also offer increasedsecurity of data by performing cryptographic processes on the data priorto storing the data on the blockchain. Therefore, by transmitting,storing, and accessing data using the system described herein, thesecurity of the data is improved, which decreases the risk of thecomputer or network from being compromised.

In various embodiments, the system may also reduce databasesynchronization errors by providing a common data structure, thus atleast partially improving the integrity of stored data. The system alsooffers increased reliability and fault tolerance over traditionaldatabases (e.g., relational databases, distributed databases, etc.) aseach node operates with a full copy of the stored data, thus at leastpartially reducing downtime due to localized network outages andhardware failures. The system may also increase the reliability of datatransfers in a network environment having reliable and unreliable peers,as each node broadcasts messages to all connected peers, and, as eachblock comprises a link to a previous block, a node may quickly detect amissing block and propagate a request for the missing block to the othernodes in the blockchain network.

The particular blockchain implementation described herein providesimprovements over conventional technology by using a decentralizeddatabase and improved processing environments. In particular, theblockchain implementation improves computer performance by, for example,leveraging decentralized resources (e.g., lower latency). Thedistributed computational resources improves computer performance by,for example, reducing processing times. Furthermore, the distributedcomputational resources improves computer performance by improvingsecurity using, for example, cryptographic protocols.

The detailed description of various embodiments herein makes referenceto the accompanying drawings and pictures, which show variousembodiments by way of illustration. While these various embodiments aredescribed in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art topractice the disclosure, it should be understood that other embodimentsmay be realized and that logical and mechanical changes may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Thus, thedetailed description herein is presented for purposes of illustrationonly and not for purposes of limitation. For example, the steps recitedin any of the method or process descriptions may be executed in anyorder and are not limited to the order presented. Moreover, any of thefunctions or steps may be outsourced to or performed by one or morethird parties. Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to thesystems, apparatuses, and methods described herein without departingfrom the scope of the disclosure. For example, the components of thesystems and apparatuses may be integrated or separated. Moreover, theoperations of the systems and apparatuses disclosed herein may beperformed by more, fewer, or other components and the methods describedmay include more, fewer, or other steps. Additionally, steps may beperformed in any suitable order. As used in this document, “each” refersto each member of a set or each member of a subset of a set.Furthermore, any reference to singular includes plural embodiments, andany reference to more than one component may include a singularembodiment. Although specific advantages have been enumerated herein,various embodiments may include some, none, or all of the enumeratedadvantages.

Systems, methods, and computer program products are provided. In thedetailed description herein, references to “various embodiments,” “oneembodiment,” “an embodiment,” “an example embodiment,” etc., indicatethat the embodiment described may include a particular feature,structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarilyinclude the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover,such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment.Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic isdescribed in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it iswithin the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature,structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodimentswhether or not explicitly described. After reading the description, itwill be apparent to one skilled in the relevant art(s) how to implementthe disclosure in alternative embodiments.

Benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have beendescribed herein with regard to specific embodiments. However, thebenefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any elements that maycause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become morepronounced are not to be construed as critical, required, or essentialfeatures or elements of the disclosure. The scope of the disclosure isaccordingly limited by nothing other than the appended claims, in whichreference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one andonly one” unless explicitly so stated, but rather “one or more.”Moreover, where a phrase similar to ‘at least one of A, B, and C’ or ‘atleast one of A, B, or C’ is used in the claims or specification, it isintended that the phrase be interpreted to mean that A alone may bepresent in an embodiment, B alone may be present in an embodiment, Calone may be present in an embodiment, or that any combination of theelements A, B and C may be present in a single embodiment; for example,A and B, A and C, B and C, or A and B and C. Although the disclosureincludes a method, it is contemplated that it may be embodied ascomputer program instructions on a tangible computer-readable carrier,such as a magnetic or optical memory or a magnetic or optical disk. Allstructural, chemical, and functional equivalents to the elements of theabove-described various embodiments that are known to those of ordinaryskill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and areintended to be encompassed by the present claims. Moreover, it is notnecessary for a device or method to address each and every problemsought to be solved by the present disclosure for it to be encompassedby the present claims. Furthermore, no element, component, or methodstep in the present disclosure is intended to be dedicated to the publicregardless of whether the element, component, or method step isexplicitly recited in the claims. No claim element is intended to invoke35 U.S.C. § 112(f) unless the element is expressly recited using thephrase “means for” or “step for”. As used herein, the terms “comprises,”“comprising,” or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover anon-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, orapparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only thoseelements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherentto such process, method, article, or apparatus.

We claim:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, by a processor, locationcoordinates of vehicles making dumps on a second lift of a stockpile;aggregating and averaging, by the processor, the location coordinates ofthe vehicles to determine a location of the vehicles; receiving, by theprocessor, elevation data of the vehicles from the location coordinatesof the vehicles; determining, by the processor, a second elevation ofthe second lift based on the elevation data of the vehicles; anddetermining, by the processor, a height of the second lift by deductinga first elevation of a first lift from the second elevation of thesecond lift.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the location coordinatesof the vehicles are determined at a time preceding the dumps.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the location coordinates are determined by aGPS sensor on each of the vehicles.
 4. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising revising, by the processor, the height of the second lift byreplacing the height with the conveyor height for crush-for-leachstockpiles.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, bythe processor, an estimate of a boundary of the second lift based onpaths that the vehicles traversed.
 6. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising transmitting, by the processor, the height of the second liftto a mine material tracking tool.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein themine material tracking tool provides data to a stockpile and sectionmapping tool.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the stockpile andsection mapping tool provides data to an ore map.
 9. The method of claim8, wherein the ore map provides data to a forecast model input table.10. The method of claim 7, wherein the stockpile and section mappingtool provides data to a predictive model.
 11. The method of claim 1,further comprising transmitting, by the processor, the height of thesecond lift to a stockpile and section mapping tool.
 12. An article ofmanufacture including a non-transitory, tangible computer readablestorage medium having instructions stored thereon that, in response toexecution by a processor, cause the processor to perform operationscomprising: receiving, by the processor, location coordinates ofvehicles making dumps on a second lift of a stockpile; aggregating andaveraging, by the processor, the location coordinates of the vehicles todetermine a location of the vehicles; receiving, by the processor,elevation data of the vehicles from the location coordinates of thevehicles; determining, by the processor, a second elevation of thesecond lift based on the elevation data of the vehicles; anddetermining, by the processor, a height of the second lift by deductinga first elevation of a first lift from the second elevation of thesecond lift.
 13. A system comprising: a processor; and a tangible,non-transitory memory configured to communicate with the processor, thetangible, non-transitory memory having instructions stored thereon that,in response to execution by the processor, cause the processor toperform operations comprising: receiving, by the processor, locationcoordinates of vehicles making dumps on a second lift of a stockpile;aggregating and averaging, by the processor, the location coordinates ofthe vehicles to determine a location of the vehicles; receiving, by theprocessor, elevation data of the vehicles from the location coordinatesof the vehicles; determining, by the processor, a second elevation ofthe second lift based on the elevation data of the vehicles; anddetermining, by the processor, a height of the second lift by deductinga first elevation of a first lift from the second elevation of thesecond lift.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein the locationcoordinates of the vehicles are determined at a time preceding thedumps.
 15. The system of claim 13, wherein the location coordinates aredetermined by a GPS sensor on each of the vehicles.
 16. The system ofclaim 13, further comprising revising, by the processor, the height ofthe second lift by replacing the height with the conveyor height forcrush-for-leach stockpiles.
 17. The system of claim 13, furthercomprising determining, by the processor, an estimate of a boundary ofthe second lift based on paths that the vehicles traversed.
 18. Thesystem of claim 13, further comprising transmitting, by the processor,the height of the second lift to a stockpile and section mapping tool.19. The system of claim 18, wherein the stockpile and section mappingtool provides data to an ore map, and wherein the ore map provides datato at least one of a predictive model or a forecast model input table.20. The system of claim 13, further comprising transmitting, by theprocessor, the height of the second lift to a mine material trackingtool.